Imagine being able to benchmark your firm against your competitors and the wider legal market.
For the first time in years, managing partners and other key decision-makers can access a credible, independent benchmark of what life is really like for associates at their firm – and how that experience compares with both peer firms and the wider market.
This survey will become a trusted, recurring benchmark giving firms a clearer sense of how they are seen from within and how that aligns with or diverges from that of their peers across the wider market.
What is this survey?
TBD Marketing’s annual Associates Survey offers law-firm leaders a clearer view from the inside out. Leadership teams can access a clearer, more honest reflection of the mood within their organisation than can be provided by internal surveys, anecdotal feedback or well-meaning guesswork.
The survey will be open to anyone below partner level in any UK law firm throughout September. Once we have the data we’ll publish a free top level findings report in November.
What do you want from me?
Please get your firm involved.
Retaining talent is a key strategic priority for all firms. Making decisions about the future of your firm without reliable data, or relying only on internal surveys, is a risk few firms can afford to take. This survey gives you the ability to identify emerging concerns early – before they harden into problems.
If we get enough responses from your firm, you can get your own anonymised data set with benchmarking, so that you can make better informed decisions. Choose to purchase this option before the survey takes place and there will be a cost saving in comparison to asking for it later too.
How do we get involved?
It’s simple, we will provide a link to send around your firm to fee earners under partner level. If you can add the encouragement of your leadership team – we can provide you with some text – your colleagues will respond.
Why, what’s in it for my firm?
Independent benchmarking – with the market context internal surveys can’t offer.
The premise is simple: understanding what motivates your associates, what frustrates them, and what they value most is a strategic necessity.
You might already run an annual colleague survey but do you have the external perspective needed to benchmark those responses? With associates from every firm answering the same set of questions, the TBD Associates Survey will provide you with the market context to draw meaningful conclusions and make better decisions.
What does it cost?
It costs nothing to get your firm involved – and it’s free to receive the top level industry findings.
If you would like a report which benchmarks the responses from your firm against competitors or the market, then there is a cost which will be based on the head count in your firm.
We are offering a small number of firms the chance to add in some of their own questions on top of the standard questions. If your firm is interested in this please tell us as soon as possible.
Each report is designed to help leadership teams understand what is really going on inside their own walls and test whether their assumptions hold up under scrutiny.
How is this different from the internal surveys we already run?
Because this one isn’t about checking a compliance box.
And we’re not starting from the question, “What would leadership like to hear?”
We’re starting with: “What do lawyers actually care about right now?” and “What are you experiencing at work right now?”
We’ll look across firms. Across practice areas. Across regions. And we’ll show the truth of how the associate experience stacks up today.
Can I find out exactly what respondents said?
No. We’re giving associates the confidence to speak freely so responses are being gathered and analysed confidentially. The independence and confidentiality of this survey matters, because when people feel safe, they are more likely to raise concerns that might otherwise go unspoken.
We’re interested in patterns, in data, in real stories that need to be told, without putting anyone’s neck on the line.
Can I find out the results from our competitors?
Also a no.
We will benchmark your firm against them but wont be sending you their datasets or specific insights.
Who else is taking part?
Associates from the Top 200 UK law firms are completing the survey, whether their firms sign up or not.
Magic Circle, Silver Circle, national firms, regional players, boutiques — all welcome.
We’ll compare apples with apples. No dodgy comparisons between six-seat City teams and full-service regionals.
The idea is to give the legal sector real, meaningful insight.
Who exactly is behind this?
Me. Simon Marshall.
I wrote the Associate and Partner surveys for Legal Business back when people still circled things in biro. Literally hard copy entries.
Since then, I’ve worked with firms, journalists and legal comms teams across the UK, and I’m trusted to get the tone right and treat data and insights with the respect they deserve.
This time, it’s not being done for a magazine. It’s being done because the industry needs a mirror held up to it. And because no one else is better placed to do it. We don’t advise on HR issues, so we can report independently with no onwards motive.
What else do I need to know?
This survey is going ahead regardless from 8 September 2025. Associates have already started to sign themselves up independently – whether their firms have signed up or not.
Would you like to be a firm that encourages your associates to use their voice, or not?
