In House lawyers enjoying top ranked benefits package

In House lawyers are enjoying the most comprehensive benefits packages in the legal profession and are rated 2.5 times better than those offered by high street firms according to a new ranking index launched by Douglas Scott Legal Recruitment.

In House legal benefits packages were top ranked 590 on the benefits index where 1,000 equated to 100% of lawyers employed in the working environment receiving 100% of the benefits.

Benefits packages offered by smaller law firms with a network of two or more offices came in at 382 and Single Branch High Street firms a bottom ranked 221 on the index.

The research shed some light on the dynamics shaping success and even survival in the different types of law firm and working environments. 

Click through for full rankings and benefits package comparison

Top 5 UK law firms surge in value

You would be sitting on a tidy profit if you had bought shares in listed top 50 UK law firm Gateley last year.

12 months ago, shares were trading at 120p but at the beginning of June this year the Gateley stock hit 195p. The price has since slipped back to 173p but the firm is valued at £186m which is 14.2 times the annual profit it posted recently.   

Adopting the same stock market sentiment would collectively value the UK’s top 5 law firms at £43.6 billion, up from £29 billion last year when Gately traded at 11.4 times its annual profits.

Check out the individual values of the Top 5 

Work life balance breakthrough?

Despite regular calls for its wholesale introduction flexible working hasn't really taken off in legal or to our knowledge any industry sector for that matter. 

According to our 2017 Salary and Benefits Benchmarker, 17% of all legal professionals benefit from some element of flexible working although there is a lot of variation across firm type and working environment.

However further research we have carried out into the battle for work-life balance suggests there is an easier win to be had by tackling another aspect of the benefits package.

The path of least resistance?

License to thrill. Ben McDowall, Contract Specialist for International Game Technology

Ben is a soldier, one of the army of contract specialists that dot the i's and cross the t's on the tens maybe hundreds of thousands of commercial deals struck across the country each day.

He's one of the nice guys and kindly took some time out from his busy schedule to tell us a bit more about his role and professional and personal motivators. 

Read more about Contract Lawyer Ben  

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