Exclusive: Lovells pays lawyers less than cleaners
28 August 2009
Lovells is bucking the market by offering jobs to lawyers at, err, £9 an hour. Meanwhile, Refer A Cleaner was asking £10 an hour for occasional jobs in central London (plus a small charge for providing detergent, with tips "left to the discretion of our customers").

One newly qualified lawyer who trained at a Magic Circle firm told RollOnFriday that she was invited to apply for three months' work with Lovells. The work related to a major piece of litigation, and could turn out to last for six months and there was even, she was told, the chance of a permanent job at the end. However her hopes were dashed when she was told the rate of pay - she'd be better off with bar work.

A spokesman for Lovells said that the places were for a specific project and the work was at a level below what it would expect of its NQs. He stressed that the consultants had not been told that the roles could lead to permanent positions and that the client was not being charged Lovells' standard NQ rate. “The positions pay at a rate commensurate with the level of legal expertise required and current market conditions” he added.

A Lovells' lawyer yesterday

 
Clearly the client has agreed a discounted rate with Lovells, and the firm can hardly be blamed for rolling over - all clients are negotiating harder and deals like this are being done all over the City. And sadly in this market there is an oversupply of qualified lawyers prepared to do paralegal work at bugger all pay. But nine quid an hour? That's “commensurate” with scrubbing lavatories. Whether Lovells really wants a reputation for paying lawyers less than its cleaners is another matter...

© RollOnFriday 2009 except for The Lawyer which can cut and paste what it likes without attribution as usual