Schnader Ranked Number 1 Among Philadelphia Law Firms in The American Lawyer’s 2009 Associate’s Survey

Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP was ranked number one among law firms in Philadelphia in the 2009 American Lawyer Associates Survey. The annual survey is based on responses from more than 6,000 third-, fourth-, and fifth-year associates from law firm offices around the globe. Any firm may participate in the survey.

“We are extremely proud to be recognized as the number one firm in Philadelphia for the second year in a row,” said Managing Partner Nicholas J. LePore. “Regardless of the challenges presented by the current economic environment, we continue to work very hard to develop training and mentoring programs that meaningfully develop a young attorney’s professional skills and foster their professional growth, and strive to provide associates with challenging, cutting-edge matters that are engaging and help to expand their understanding of the law. We also seek to develop an environment that is open and collegial, and I think the results of the survey strongly reflect the overall effort.”

Schnader had an 81 percent response rate and placed well overall. The firm also scored very well on a variety of individual questions, including “how interesting the work is,” “quality of work assigned,” as well as “level of responsibility,” “opportunities to work with partners,” and “collegiality.” The Firm also ranked above the national average in such areas as “training and guidance,” “fairness of evaluations,” and “communication about partnership.” The Firm’s strong support of pro bono matters was also reflected in the very positive scores it received on the question “attitude toward pro bono.”

A firm’s score is the average of 12 questions on the survey that summarize the firm’s qualities, including the interest and satisfaction levels of work; benefits and compensation; relations between associates and partners; training and guidance; openness about finances and strategies; billable hours policy; the firm’s attitude toward pro bono work; and the likelihood of the associate being at the firm in two years.