Now in its 10th edition, the Top 25 Attraction Firms ranking serves as a significant component of the Legal Firm of Choice Survey, which identifies the most desirable BigLaw practices across Australia.

The latest survey was conducted from 30 January to 13 February 2025 and garnered a total of 434 responses from legal professionals currently engaged in private practice throughout the country. It recorded the attitudes, priorities, and perceptions of these practitioners, offering a valuable glimpse into the evolving landscape of the legal profession.

Last week, Lawyers Weekly also published the Top 25 Attraction Firms ranking for 2024-25, as well as data that showed that over 20 per cent of lawyers plan to leave their firms this year.

Firms gaining popularity

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Analysis of the Top 25 ranking in 2024 and 2025 shows that the following firms have emerged as increasingly sought-after workplaces for lawyers in the past year:

• Maddocks – ranked 12th, was previously ranked 21st in 2023–24 (up nine places).

• Norton Rose Fulbright – ranked 19th, was previously ranked 33rd in 2023–24 (up 14 places).

• Thomson Geer – ranked 26th, was previously ranked 41st in 2023–24 (up 14 places).

• Sparke Helmore Lawyers – ranked 16th, was previously ranked 32nd in 2023–24 (up 16 places).

• Dentons – ranked 27th, was previously ranked 46th in 2023–24 (up 19 places).

• Hamilton Locke – ranked 20th, was previously ranked 45th in 2023–24 (up 25 places).

Speaking on Sparke Helmore Lawyers’ rise in the rankings, national managing partner Andrew White credited it to the firm’s “remarkable surge in attracting top legal talent”, a success he said stems from the firm’s employee value proposition.

In the past year and a half, White noted, the firm has expanded within its corporate and commercial and workplace practice groups, attributing to the recruitment of 17 lateral partners and 10 internal promotions to partner within this time period.

“With a growth mindset coupled with a genuine culture of kindness, Sparke Helmore provides exceptional quality work and clear career paths, making it an attractive destination for ambitious lawyers,” White said.

Reflecting on Dentons’ recent growth, chief operating officer Maureen Migliazzo shared that she is “delighted” that the firm’s ongoing efforts to create a “great place to work is resonating with lawyers”.

“Creating an exceptional people experience needs support from leadership for a wide range of initiatives. Our people value our commitment to inclusion, diversity and equity – which forms part of our strategy; it’s not just a ‘nice to have’.

“We have created market-leading career development programs for every level of lawyer, so lawyers have clear pathways of progression all the way through to partnership if they choose,” she said.

Migliazzo also revealed that Dentons has recently strengthened its leave entitlements by introducing its new Family Leave Policy, “which offers 26 weeks paid leave to any primary carer regardless of gender, as well as bonus leave and volunteer leave”.

Firms declining in popularity

Elsewhere, some firms have dropped down the rankings compared to their standings last year:

• EY – ranked 38th, was previously ranked 29th in 2023–24 (down nine places).

• Piper Alderman – ranked 37th, was previously ranked 27th in 2023–24 (down 10 places).

• Clyde & Co – ranked 49th, was previously ranked 38th in 2023–24 (down 11 places).

• Slater & Gordon – ranked 29th, was previously ranked 17th in 2023–24 (down 12 places).

• DLA Piper – ranked 28th, was previously ranked 13th in 2023–24 (down 15 places).

• PwC Legal – ranked 44th, was previously ranked 28th in 2023-25 (down 16 places).

Lawyers Weekly reached out to each of these firms for commentary, but none provided statements by the time of publication.

The decline in perceived appeal for these firms, as per the Top 25 Attraction Firms Ranking, can perhaps be explained – at least in part – by news from the past year.

PwC, of course, has been plagued by its tax scandal, in which senior partners at the firm were alleged to have misused confidential government information to help their tax clients. A parliamentary inquiry subsequently found that partners at PwC had “weaponised” legal privilege to allegedly hide crucial documents from the Tax Office in August last year.

Slater & Gordon has faced its own issues in the past year, including the uncovering of a payroll issue related to leave accrual, leading to a collective underpayment estimated at over $300,000 for around 100 current and former employees in June last year.

Clyde & Co has lost several teams in recent times to rival BigLaw firms, including construction and financial services teams to Thomson Geer in December, a financial lines team to Wotton + Kearney in the same month, and an insurance team to Colin Biggers & Paisley in October.