Lawyer Salary

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hey guys,

I'm interested in doing family law at a small-medium firm. My grades are rather okay but I'm particularly interested in this Raffles Place firm with this long-hair, bearded lawyer/partner who does tremendous amount of pro bono work.

Any insights on any culture and pay of this firm?

Thanks in advance!

(to the confused young lad above, i'll read and reply you tml hahaha)

You would appreciate that his brother is the owner of the firm.

Junior Legal Counsel pay range??

Does anybody know what the small, medium and large local firms are paying to fresh grads/newly called to the bar lawyers now in light of the glut issue?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

A realistic path is to work for small-medium law firms (<15 lawyers) doing mostly criminal defence, family or conveyancing work.

Legal Service has become extremely competitive and aside from JLC candidates and PSC scholars they are probably take less than 15 person per year. Most of them are at least 2.1 in reputable overseas u or nus or smu.

APP appointment is usu for person who are not qualified to be called to the bar due to their uni degree. Since you will be a qualified person, you will be considered for DPP equivalent role. However the chances of getting selected is slim

Do you know what the minimum requirements/profile you need to be selected as a DPP then? Is a second upper from NUS sufficient, or do they only accept first class? I was really hoping to join the Legal Service but as you said, I heard they only take in people at the very top these days... No chance? Also is it better (easier) to apply early as an undergrad or wait until finishing my training contract/apply as fresh grad?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Does anybody know what the small, medium and large local firms are paying to fresh grads/newly called to the bar lawyers now in light of the glut issue?

Small: from 3.2 - 4
Medium from 4 - 4.5
Big 5 - 6 or more

YMMV

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Do you know what the minimum requirements/profile you need to be selected as a DPP then? Is a second upper from NUS sufficient, or do they only accept first class? I was really hoping to join the Legal Service but as you said, I heard they only take in people at the very top these days... No chance? Also is it better (easier) to apply early as an undergrad or wait until finishing my training contract/apply as fresh grad?

For undergrad, you probably need at least high second upper and some demonstrated interest in legal service work (usually crim). Don't think things change if you apply right after TC, but grades probably matter less if you apply mid-career (5-ish years in). although the word is that alot of junior partners from law firms also want in, so..

Can someone shed some light on why law firms are so badly run?

Why do lawyers, supposedly professionals who provide high value advice to clients on how to run their businesses, run their own businesses so unprofessionally?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Can someone shed some light on why law firms are so badly run?

Why do lawyers, supposedly professionals who provide high value advice to clients on how to run their businesses, run their own businesses so unprofessionally?

Because lawyers are not businessmen... Duh...and by the way, lawyers do not advice clients on how to run businesses.... Those people advising businesses are consultants from BCG etc.....lawyers only deal with legal aspects of the transactions. Even structuring of a transaction is mainly done by tax advisors. If a lawyer structures a transaction, he or she does not usually do it from a purely commercial perspective.

Hope the above clarifies.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Because lawyers are not businessmen... Duh...and by the way, lawyers do not advice clients on how to run businesses.... Those people advising businesses are consultants from BCG etc.....lawyers only deal with legal aspects of the transactions. Even structuring of a transaction is mainly done by tax advisors. If a lawyer structures a transaction, he or she does not usually do it from a purely commercial perspective.

Hope the above clarifies.

i wouldn't say that is entirely true.

At the highest level the very top lawyers do become very valued business advisors to their C-Suite counterparts.

Charlie Munger for instance has been Warren Buffett's righthand man for the longest time. Others like Martin Lipton and Rodgin Cohen are legends on wall street and are the people whom banks' CEOs call upon to save the day.

Of course these are lawyers practicing at the very top. Its true that most lawyers in private practice focus only on the legal aspects of the transaction.

Those lawyers with broader commercial sense or a hunger for more commerical participation would've jumped in-house to be CLOs and general counsel long ago where they can probably play a greater role in running a business.

And of course brilliant ex-lawyers like Blankfein (Goldman Sach's current CEO) had jumped ship long ago to more lucrative areas like finance.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

i wouldn't say that is entirely true.

At the highest level the very top lawyers do become very valued business advisors to their C-Suite counterparts.

Charlie Munger for instance has been Warren Buffett's righthand man for the longest time. Others like Martin Lipton and Rodgin Cohen are legends on wall street and are the people whom banks' CEOs call upon to save the day.

Of course these are lawyers practicing at the very top. Its true that most lawyers in private practice focus only on the legal aspects of the transaction.

Those lawyers with broader commercial sense or a hunger for more commerical participation would've jumped in-house to be CLOs and general counsel long ago where they can probably play a greater role in running a business.

And of course brilliant ex-lawyers like Blankfein (Goldman Sach's current CEO) had jumped ship long ago to more lucrative areas like finance.

They do that despite being lawyers, not because they are lawyers