Lawyer Salary

Originally Posted by Unregistered

The bar to pass the Bar in SG is pretty low, but its meant to test a baseline level of legal knowledge and reasoning. The absolute minimum.

If someone can't pass after more than 2 resits under normal conditions (e.g. no mental or physical illness, no emotional issues at the time of the Bar exams), I think they should get the hint that they aren't cut out to be a lawyer. Save the clients and colleagues some grief.

We're too used to the idea of taking tests to tick a box in Singapore. This is not like NS where they allow you to repeatedly re-take the stupid training safety "test" just so that u can pass, as a matter of formality.

I've actually seen more than a handful of dumb and technically unsound lawyers in practice. Not to be elitist, but these lawyers possess a few common traits (at the risk of generalization): (1) usually studied overseas in some lower-ranked law school in UK or Australia. (2) work in small firms. (3) work in less challenging practice areas like conveyancing or family. (4) did not fully pass all Bar exam subjects on the 1st try. (5) inability to grasp, or a gaping hole in the knowledge of, certain legal principles that one would expect a law school grad to know, or at least grasp conceptually even if they had never encountered such legal principles before.

They would not have made the cut in larger firms and more rigorous practice areas. But the lower end of Legal practice allows for a surprisingly wide range of lawyer competencies.

I am in partial agreement with your posts, save for my following disagreements below.

1. If the "dumb and technically unsound lawyers" are 5PQE and below, some leniency should be given as the learning curve for junior lawyers is steep and those dinosaur boomer partners' way of guidance is just scolding without even hinting what is wrong. Not even asking for the answer to be spoon-fed. And those small firms with these dinosaurs are poorly equipped, I did my internship in one where the partner still numbers the pages in those bundles by pen and there is no Lawnet because it is "too expensive" as quoted.

2. To continue from point 1, reality is often stranger than fiction. In academia, the scenario provided in exams are straightforward and issues can be easily identified. But in practice, the facts are not that straightforward and issues may not be easily identifiable. It can be worse if your client is not forthcoming about a lot of things that may assist you in identifying the issues. All these can be daunting for junior lawyers so they may appear to be "dumb and technically unsound lawyers".

3. Family law is not less challenging. It can be taxing on the lawyer because your clients are very emotional and often use you as their emotional tampon. And they expect you to write letters to the other party over trivial matters like when to pick up the kids, etc. Hilarious when you realize that both parties are adults but they can't communicate over something as trivial as this. Client management in family law from my experience (although I am no longer a family law practitioner) is more challenging than other areas of law because of the emotions and personal stakes involved. It doesn't help that there is a lot of specialized family law firms undercutting fees till the point that it is financially unsustainable.

4. I will say the "worst" lawyers are usually found in conveyancing and accident claims

hearsay cc sg is a sinking ship now after the departure of a certain head of liti. any inside info?

what is retention like during recession years? esp at baker n b4

Originally Posted by Unregistered

what is retention like during recession years? esp at baker n b4

Depends if u are chio or not.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Depends if u are chio or not.

what if im a 4/10?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

what if im a 4/10?

There is always room for exceptionally smart but awkward and ugly people in law firms.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

hearsay cc sg is a sinking ship now after the departure of a certain head of liti. any inside info?

A sinking ship may be too much of an exaggeration. But there has been some upheaval and management has been trying to bring in names before more there are more departures

Are most law firms still adopting WFH/Hybrid model? Or has the legal industry transitioned back to working in office?

I’d feel uneasy if I have to work with the bar cheats in some capacity. Idk, what do my learned friends think.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Are most law firms still adopting WFH/Hybrid model? Or has the legal industry transitioned back to working in office?

Small firm corp assoc here. Have about 1+ PQE doing corp. severely underpaid and have forced to go in everyday only for partner to remotely work or come in super late.

No WFH or hybrid option here.

Work hasn’t been coming in and at times I have come in staring into space.

Hoping to jump out soon, can seniors help share with which firms offer hybrid and better p