£2-17s-6d in old money.

And that’s in a good year!

Depends on the set and can vary quite dramatically.

I’d rather not say the precise circuit but it’s one of the two you mentioned. As another poster commented it’s also worth looking at the Bar Council data on earnings by practice area and by year of call, although I don’t think that data accounts for the difference between earnings on circuit vs in London.

I have had a read through the thread and have seen lots of London-based quantities, but not regional. I am a future Common Law Pupil on the Western Circuit and would love an idea if the amounts differ hugely between the regional bar and London, in each Common Law Area?

Thanks

Wow. This is as much as a successful silk at an MC set can expect to make in the early years after taking silk.

Unlikely to be realistic if the first-year tenant works all-year on an hourly rate (unless s/he just loves to work). Brief fees will likely play a role in getting a first-year tenant beyond the £150k-£200k mark.

Depends on practice area, general financial situation of each barrister, degree to which the barrister is a workaholic, demands of a barrister’s practice in any particular year. But yes, perfectly reasonably to take 8 weeks over the course of an entire year (if 8 weeks is being calculated as 40 days, i.e. excluding weekends). Bare minimum in my view, if you consider that most decent employers give their employees 30 days’ holiday per year (especially after a certain number of years’ service).

That being said, a lot of barristers will find that it is impossible to expect every holiday to remain uninterrupted by work. Some degree of flexibility is needed, especially if taking a holiday that is longer than 7-10 days. Clerks will sometimes need to get in contact, or something unexpected will happen in a case and your sols will need advice on procedure/strategy.

£300k at £150 p/h equates to approx 45 hours a week/9hrs a day (based on 5 weeks leave). Is that realistic? What does the ratio of billed work:non billed equate out to in a working day/week?

Thanks for replying. A long way to go for me (final year LLB) but if I make it, that’s good to know!

Winner winner! What on earth is your hourly rate?

Earned or billed.

MC set – yes, very realistic (at least at the commercial bar). Nearly everyone in my chambers has taken all of August off. I’m taking all of Sept off in addition to two weeks over Easter and another 2 weeks planned over Christmas.

I know that feeling.

However, once you’ve had a few good years (which is the realistic likelihood), you’ll start to realise that, on average, things work at fine, if not better, and that sense that the sky might fall down one day will gradually recede, even if it never quite disappears entirely.

I ask as someone who loves to travel but I want to check I’m not getting too excited about the prospects of maintaining that lifestyle!

I ask as someone who loves to travel but I want to check I’m not getting too excited about the prospects of maintaining that lifestyle!

Thank you. Very insightful as someone hoping to land a pupillage in Manchester/Midlands and not just London. Which circuit are you on if you don’t mind?

This is very interesting. I’ve been led to believe crime is low paid and partly why I’m looking at civil/commercial.

This is very interesting. I’ve been led to believe crime is low paid and partly why I’m looking at civil/commercial.