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Kellie Schmitt
The Recorder
01-09-2007

Five law firms made Fortune magazine's list this year of the best 100 employers to work for -- one less than last year.

Alston & Bird, Arnold & Porter, Nixon Peabody, Perkins Coie and Bingham McCutchen held their ground. But Morrison & Foerster, the only California-based firm to make the 2006 list, dropped off the chart.

"It's a brisk competition," said Keith Wetmore, MoFo's chairman. "We find engaging in the competition improves our workplace policies because we can see where we don't rate as well."

For the firms that made the list, it's cause for celebration.

"We were thrilled," said Jay Zimmerman, Bingham's chairman. "It's very important from a recruiting and internal point of view."

Zimmerman agreed that the list is getting more and more competitive, especially when you're vying for spots with companies like No. 1-ranked Google.

"That's a company that has the ability to have so many more things than a law firm," he said, including perks such as free meals, a swimming spa and free doctors on site, according to the survey.

"We have a cafeteria in our Seattle office, but we don't have 14 gourmet restaurants," said Darrin Emerick, Perkins Coie's chief personnel officer, whose firm came in at No. 64 this year and No. 48 in 2006.

Still, Perkins Coie does what it can to create a festive environment, he said. Each office has it own "happiness committee" that surprises attorneys and staff with spontaneous celebrations on Cinco de Mayo or Mardi Gras.

"It brings some excitement into the workplace," Emerick said. "It's the best guarded secret in some offices -- no one knows who the happiness committee is."

More serious lifestyle considerations are also taken into account. Perkins Coie is proud of its paid sabbaticals. Arnold & Porter offers on-site child care.

And at Bingham, women outnumber men two to one and make up 23 percent of the partner ranks -- believed to be the highest percentage in the industry, according to the Fortune report.

To gauge the top 100, the Great Place to Work Institute gathers nominations and invites companies to participate. From there, it narrows down the list and sends out surveys to randomly selected employees. The company also has to submit a cultural audit on items such as its compensation, benefits and diversity.

Firms tend to take the surveys seriously because of recruiting.

But according to Madeleine Seltzer, a Los Angeles-based recruiter with Seltzer Fontaine Beckwith, while potential employees often do notice, it's likely not the driving factor. "It's a plus, but it's not going to make someone go to a firm unless other elements are also right," she said. "It's like icing on the cake."

For some of the winning firms, the prize isn't just landing a spot on the coveted list. Celebrating success becomes another way to make firms a fun place to work.

At Perkins Coie, there will be cake and champagne on Friday -- plus a shot to win a trip for two to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

"We sent the e-mail out today," Emerick said. "A lot of people were excited."