Lawyer Salary

Hello, must say this forum makes for an entertaining if depressing read.

For school leavers with the means (and still wanting to practice law after all the ranting here), I would suggest going to a decent university in the UK (doesn't have to be oxbridge) then applying for a TC in of the City firms. Heck you don't even need to have studied law for an English TC. You can make your way back to SG in a better position eventually if that's what you want to do. US is possible too, but its a long and expensive route, and the eventual 2500 billable hours can literally kill you. Oz is too much of a domestic market for international mobility.

If you can't afford going overseas and just want good career prospects go do computing at NUS or NTU (early years in medicine is more brutal than law).

I would avoid doing law at a local uni. Local law grads are the best candidates for SG law firms but the SG legal market is really small, and increasingly shrinking. All those hordes of NQs and mid levels leaving practice to go in-house counsel? Guess where the work which would have gone to law firms before is now staying.

Major international firms don't care for the Singapore market. It's all about the wider the SEA/South Asia/APAC play. Singapore is just a hub. Law firms are a business, like any other business. Go figure.

Local firms just don't have the platform or presence to compete for the regional work. When we pitch for a deal, A&G is the cheap budget option. Local firms won't disappear, they will all just be competing for the same shrinking pie that is the domestic Singapore market. A&G is solid and will prob be the last independent firm left standing, like Deacons in HK, sustained by work from the STI component companies. Drew will prob be around as a disputes boutique.

I appreciate that I'm making some bold claims so I guess I should present some credentials. I'm about 7 SG PQE. Went to NUS, average academics, started at a mid-sized firm doing corporate work, moved to a top tier international firm about 3 years back. 0 connections. Now an SA and on partnership track, although that is quite a few more years down the road. Received an unsolicited job offer from one of the MC firms recently but turned it down. I quite enjoy my work. SAs at international firms functionally do the same work as salaried partners at local firms - we scope, price, supervise and deliver on the transactions. Hours are not 9-5 but not terrible, worst part is the variability that goes with transactional work. I have a great boss and a good team. Initially took a bit of adjusting as the only Singaporean in the team but all fine after about 6 months.

I realise that I have been fortunate in my career in many ways for no personal merit - circumstances, opportunities, good bosses along the way, so I want to try to pay it forward. If you're not a troll, not annoying, and want some constructive perspective or advice, drop me an email at [email protected]. No promises of a response, and please be patient, won't be checking it that often. I'll observe confidentiality for what it's worth.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

A cautionary tale - just know that some trainees in a particular firm in MBFC is not going to get retained due to poor reviews by the seniors they have nominated.

Next time be smarter pls. Don’t nominate seniors that don’t like you.

Among the tax trainees, is the girl going to be retained? Heard that one of the guys has such connections that he will definitely get retained over the rest.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Among the tax trainees, is the girl going to be retained? Heard that one of the guys has such connections that he will definitely get retained over the rest.

Are you talking about the one from other country?

Mbfc has the hottest girls. Just saying

lunch any one? raffles place.
trainee here not getting retained
not going to take up legal executive job
i felt cheated frankly
worked so hard and long hours get scolded
never felt worse in life
and now jobless soon

2018 called dates are out:
09 May 2018, 18 July 2018, 30 & 31 Aug 2018, 12 Sep 2018, 10 Oct 2018, 14 Nov 2018

anyone going for 18 July 2018?

Hello,

I ended up as an engineer but I always wanted to be a lawyer. Now I after working for 5 years and not being satisfied, I decided to try and get into NUS's 3 year GLLB program. I know I want to be a lawyer but I don't know any in Singapore. So,

Do you guys know any? Any GLlb students here? Are they satisfied with the job they do?
Is the monetary benefits comparable to being a software developer? (In general, average NUS passout)
Are any of you law students, could you brief about the examination conducted for GLLB?
Is SMU better than NUS in law?
What are some of the specialisations that you would consider when taking up law school?
Is SMU jd better than NUS gllb?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hello,

I ended up as an engineer but I always wanted to be a lawyer. Now I after working for 5 years and not being satisfied, I decided to try and get into NUS's 3 year GLLB program. I know I want to be a lawyer but I don't know any in Singapore. So,

Do you guys know any? Any GLlb students here? Are they satisfied with the job they do?
Is the monetary benefits comparable to being a software developer? (In general, average NUS passout)
Are any of you law students, could you brief about the examination conducted for GLLB?
Is SMU better than NUS in law?
What are some of the specialisations that you would consider when taking up law school?
Is SMU jd better than NUS gllb?

AM SMU JD grad. Just stay in your engineering. Law is not as beautiful as what you think it is like the past. Dont spend the extra money time and effort with the return that is very very small now.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

AM SMU JD grad. Just stay in your engineering. Law is not as beautiful as what you think it is like the past. Dont spend the extra money time and effort with the return that is very very small now.

Any reason why you don’t do nus gllb but goes to JDSMu?

And what is the returns we are talking about ? Heard big firms salary is $7000-$10,000.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Any reason why you don’t do nus gllb but goes to JDSMu?

And what is the returns we are talking about ? Heard big firms salary is $7000-$10,000.

I got smu offer first and i accepted it. Anyway cos i graduated from nus so i decided to give smu a try.

i dont think big firm is giving out that high now. Thus far the big 4 are like ranging from 4.5-6. Unless you are talking about those international firms etc.

It is not easy to even secure a training contract now. Furthermore i assume that you should be around 30years+- and there will be "age" thing. Firms will rather hire fresh, young who are more motivated but most importantly cheap. The converse is that you are experienced and so likely you will ask for a higher pay compare to the them.

I think you can read through the threads urself and you should be able to figure what what i am saying.

Good luck for your final decision.