“baby lawyers” says it all – I’m sure your clients are so grateful for your wisdom.

lmao.

Yeah 60-70k is reasonable for a 3 year undergrad, 1 year post grad and 2 year training contract. You can earn more at mcdonalds…

Just because you guys got shafted when you were junior doesnt meant we have to. Besides, the salary jump i’ve got in the past years is a rounding error in comparison to PEP/PEP increases.

ThEy bEnEfIt fRoM tHe PrActIcE oF tHe PaRtNerS. But how much exactly? Yes when NQs are charged out at a boat load of money per hour it is leveraging the firm’s reputation (which of course also exist because of the level of work produced by associates, and overseen/procured by the partners). But how much do they benefit? NQs will keep about 20% of what is billed out on their work. 80% goes to the firm. That’s extortionate as it is. Thanks.

I suspect your comments are based on what NQ salaries were in 2005, without realising that the value of the pound has fallen in real terms by 44% since then… such that a £100k a year wage now is equivalent to a £56k salary back then.

You can’t blame NQs for years of fiscal drag, increased student loan and tuition fee costs, rampant house price and rent inflation and a 60% marginal rate of income tax on earnings above £100k.

Junior lawyers aren’t stupid. They know that partnership these days is largely a pipe dream, and that most of them will spend their careers as little more than disposable assets who will be sweated as much as possible for the benefit of an increasingly small group of equity partners.

It’s also true that the internal politics is lost on many juniors and that’s why supervisors/senior associates step in to advise the younger lawyers on internal politics. This reminds me of GoT where if you are oblivious to internal politics (like Ned Stark), you don’t last long at the top.

Juniors at £180K do benefit from the trickle down economics of extremely lucrative business models the senior partners created, maintained and even expanded. And they would benefit from that model not becoming unstable as a result of a more cowboy-style environment at the top where the big money is distributed.

Yes, L&W, K&E, etc etc would not survive if it weren’t for the trainees, in the same way as Nvidia wouldn’t survive it it weren’t for the junior software engineers, cleaners, or security staff.

Law, especially in the UK, has been extremely lucrative over the past decade, and truly ran away from any other white collar career. Management consultants in London earn roughly half of their counterparts anywhere in the US (including those with very low cost of living ratios). Same goes for bankers, doctors, PE,… the only profession where one arguably makes more in London than they do in the US, is Law. No gruesome $500K+ golden handcuff student loans, outrageously unsustainable work-life balance, or elitism when it comes to educational history.

Whilst I would not advocate to immunise them from criticism, we should also not ignore their opinion.

Not being willing to follow the old model of working 80 weeks to “prove their commitment” is not laziness. It’s simply understanding that that was a really bad model.

And they are not demanding £150k+. They are simply taking the best offer. You are welcome to offer whatever you like, but if they have a better offer from somewhere else they are going to take it.

The pay is caused by the market trying to outcompete each other for the best talent.

Firms seem to still operate more on an individual basis rather than a collective, which means that partners are more than likely to cut costs (admin, fewer support lawyers) in order to achieve higher profits. This is in direct contrast to the firm, which aims to increase profits for the firm. Liken modern day law firms to boxing promotions where the majority of the profits goes to the fighters (partners) and so work to promote themselves but there is nothing left (infrastructure growth) whereas the UFC model pays their fighters like employees (government lawyers etc) (standard pay with no business development required) and the infrastructure is built (meaning more money for support staff, support lawyers).