Unregistered 17/3 is correcto.

The people who secure JL clerkships can easily get hired by the top tier firms or the internationals, which are market leaders in the pvt sector. There must be an incentive for these high flyers to want to be in Legal Service, rather than starting straightaway at private firms. Remember that years spent in civil service is opportunity cost, compared to their peers who are gaining experience in the private sector.

Government pays well, but never as high as the top earners in private sector. Of course in the latter, it is a free-for-all. The top 10% gets 90% of the revenue, that kind of thing.

JLC calibre law grads have great potential being top private sector earners. So Legal Service must be attractive to compete for talent.