We (mid-tier City) got a poorly-judged claim from a US firm run by a non-specialist NQ kicked out with a 6-figure sum on costs. They were hyper-aggressive which backfired on them really badly when the judge took a really dim view of the correspondence and made the order on an indemnity basis. No sensible person would instruct a greenhorn to run important litigation. 

I was paid £13k first year, £17k second and £23k on qualification in 1996-98 of the then regional hub of a now large international law firm. Worked my ass off, all hours, for 7 years and left on £55k.  Learnt loads but felt, and still do, that the firm took full advantage.  Sometimes I think the pay increases are absurd but then I remember all the crazy hours and hard graft that goes into it, and I don’t blame the juniors for it. 

On a six figure salary and two months in my billable is already higher than my basic salary. I deserve every penny. THANK YOU. 

Remember, an NQ at an MC firm hitting their hours will bill over a million quid.  Clearly these NQ salaries are not 'unsustainable'.  What's more likely to be unsustainable is partners earning £5 - 10 million, and the rates that are required to sustain that.  If anyone is overpaid it is partners, not associates. 

Junior Associate. I am sure the client that pays your exorbitant fees thanks you for your service.

If the client is pissed off at exorbitant fees, should they not be annoyed at the partner with the multiple Rolexes, the holidays to Antigua, the five grand Italian suits, than the junior associate living in a tiny rental flat in Dalston earning £70k or something after tax, pension, student loan repayments? 

I feel like these Junior attorneys are [redacted] the old man with all these money demands. They're basically standing there with their hard [redacted] and saying give me the money or I'm going to [redacted] you.

Junior Associate, your firm might well agree with you, but the client may not.

I don't begrudge juniors the pay increases at all. It makes our in-house salaries ever more justifiable and seem cheap by comparison.  If the bills are too high, simply choose another firm.

If clients don't want to pay these fees, don't instruct these firms. Simple. Silver circle or even - gasp - mid-tier firms can do plenty of the things you routinely instruct MC/NY firms to do. 

DGAF.

Let's compare PEP for most recently announced financial results. Linklaters is behind the pack. 

Macfarlanes: £2.1m

Freshfields: £2.09m

Clifford Chance: £2m

Legacy A&O: £1.82m

Linklaters: £1.78m

Obscene salaries, but not as obscene as the £5m + earnings drawn by the bosses. 

It's all very well saying clients should instruct other firms, but there's very ltitle real choice when they're all in some mad race to attract "talent". It's an accidental cartel.  

Does anyone know which firms are the most traditional / old school? Firms with less of a relentless progressive agenda etc. I've heard Slaughter and May and Macfarlanes mentioned but are there any others? 

@Supervision - or lack thereof.

That's a cool story bro. Tell it again? 

Those PEP figures are nowt compared to the richest lawyer in Yorkshire - and he pays NQs £49k...

Wonder if they’re increasing business services with such outrageous increases with the increased workloads that trickle down.

This is only fueling inequality. 

Joshua, no US and U.K. law firms sadly. I my opinion Big firms are putting they logo on paper and small ones make a job. Lately using Spanish law firm, brilliant. Belgium used , 1,5 million for big case which they won 800mln. That’s it. Can’t say more . Time is to abondent US and U.K. 

S&M not relentless and aggressive? Have you not heard how brutal their up and out model is?

Joshua, I’m afraid that none of U.K. or US law firms. In my opinion they put their logo on the paper and use other smaller law firms for jobs (taking a cut, broker’s fees) . The rest it’s expensive templates. Recently using Spanish law firm, £80 thousand for my company court case , to sue opposition through even appeal court, case for 6zeros. Used Belgium law firm, £1,5 mln for whole case which they won £800 mln. That’s it. Sorry can’t help with names.

@3 Ducks

There is lots of choice around the UK if you looked. There are firms that are not magic circle or US offices. They also do law and charge a lot less.

@Anon 24 May 24 10:53

Worth noting though that Linklaters has a nearly 100% equity partnership (there are 30 non-equity partners presumably people who are semi retired or have some specific reason they can't be an equity partner like some jurisdictional regulatory issue). In contrast (according to the Lawyer UK200), about 35% of Macfarlanes partners are salaried, nearly 40% of CC partners are salaried, 20% of A&O partners are salaried. So its an apples to oranges comparison as that artificially inflates their PEP and obscures underlying profitability. At an underlying level Linklaters is much more profitable than any of them despite the lower PEP. It is worth noting that US firms also (with a small number of exceptions) do not have an all equity partnership so whilst they are more profitable there is that caveat.

The only real comparison is Freshfields which is also a 100% equity partnership - and they admittedly do seem to have pulled ahead. 

Anon @ 13:16: A&O (now AOS) is 100% equity

@Mr Large Circa 23% of partners are non-equity 

Is there data on the ratio of equity to non equity partners?  In my day A&O partners would spend the first 2-3 years on a salary, and there were “gates” for equity increases

Insider - if you're referring to a small number of jurisdictions where partners aren't members of one of the LLPs due to local law reasons then you are technically correct (though they are treated as equity for PEP purposes). There is however no non-equity tier whereby a partner starts off as salaried and then moves to equity.

The magic circle NQs deserve it. Anyone moaning about their pay should have worked harder at school / university ;) 

But hey I would say that as (1) I am in-house (general commercial) and the pay feeding frenzy is helping my pay too and (2) I have seen how hard they, well S&M NQs work.