Lawyer Salary

Originally Posted by Unregistered

sorry I have been reading this thread since the OP who moved in house made his first post and I got to ask because I am genuinely curious.. are you in the legal industry?

I am so lost on what you are trying to say.

First you mentioned ROI.. which well to be honest, is not really a factor in considering your life career. If it is something you enjoy doing, ROI should not be an issue and as a parent myself, I also would not care whether ROI is good if I need to send my children for higher education. As long as my children are happy and living an honest living, I will splurge 200-300k if necessary.

Second point you made is that OP is a failure for moving in house. Wrong. I do not even want to elaborate further. I think comments above have roasted you enough.

Third point you are making is that the salary from someone else 13-15 years ago is the same as OP now, thus making him/her a failure. Are you sure you really want to state this.. I feel like this is some desperation pov you came up with as an afterthought because you could not find a logical reasoning to back your previous statements (all of which are ridiculous imo). Starting salary has not changed much in the legal industry because the boomers in private practise are raking in all the dough and leaving little to no crumbs for the new generation. Believe me, I know, its coming from my batch and my seniors who have been in the industry for 20-30 years.

To OP who just moved in house, I salute you for making that post and congratulations on your new career trajectory. It takes a lot of courage for you to stand up to your boss like that and it was nothing less than heartwarming to see that you have a strong sense of fillial piety. As a parent I am proud of you if your parents have not told you that yet.

bruh just ignore the idiot he clearly talking out of his ass lmfao.

8PQE here

Seeing so many posts on practising vs in house superiority, I feel ashamed that this is even a topic of discussion.

Indeed, in house is not as draining as private practise. (one client vs many clients)

But my learned seniors who went in house were all incredibly talented in their fields, in fact as a NUS law grad who scored 2.1, I feel like I am but a frog in the well when I compare myself to them.

I often have to call up my seniors who left for in house jobs on academic/ROC related questions. Funnily enough, they know it better than my peers who are practising alongside me. (ROC2021 lol)

Calling them failures.. would make me less than a failure and that is disheartening and bad taste at the very least.

I think the reason why they moved in house, at least from what I gathered during our meet ups, is that their lives changed after they got married and have different life goals. They do not want to spend time in the office slugging their guts out till the morning for a firm that will replace them in a heartbeat.

If they came back to practise I would want them on my side rather than having to go against them.

damn I really miss them. guess I should hit up the whatsapp chat group again to catch up with them.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I see where you’re coming from, but your numbers already make my point.

You were called 15 years ago and already earning 4-5K. Say, you got a pay bump when you went in house, or even at the same pay - and this was 13 years ago.

The OP who went in house, just went in at 4+K - you see the issue now? He’s drawing the same pay or even lower compared to you 13 years ago.

lol this guy confirm not a lawyer if he thinks going in house gets you a pay bump.

confirm some troll who talking **** he has no clue about. no wonder everything he says all complete BS

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Yes, my question was indeed about ROI.

Fair enough, had he/she studied local, then ok - parents spent $35-50K locally and perhaps even on a local bank loan or supplemented by a CPF loan, so if the OP doesn’t want to work for money then so be it

But if his/her parents had sent him/her overseas, esp when his/her A levels results are subpar and couldn’t make it to local in the first place- then it’s the parents who ultimately suffer isn’t it

Guys I think you all have been misled
This was my original post
Nowhere did I say he was a failure - all I asked was whether he studied local or overseas and later on, what type of in-house gig he found

I’m not being facetious, they’re really are a lot of in house work, and some are borderline paralegal work; liaise with external counsel to help pay for trademark registration etc, you know?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

It’s only because the OP brought in his/her parents. No, I’m serious, if your parents took out $200K to send you overseas, the least you could do is study hard, get a good job, and let them worry less about your future right?

In house jobs are great, but didn’t OP say his job is paying $4K+, then this isn’t full fledged in house role right

See here too, who says in house is failure? Some of the best paying legally trained jobs are GCs, no one doubts that in house folks are full of success

I’m talking about OP’s gig and am concerned for him
And to be clear, OP seems very nice from his replies

I wish him all the best too

How much does a conveyancing lawyer gets paid

Say i open my own chinatown firm

Originally Posted by Unregistered

It’s only because the OP brought in his/her parents. No, I’m serious, if your parents took out $200K to send you overseas, the least you could do is study hard, get a good job, and let them worry less about your future right?

In house jobs are great, but didn’t OP say his job is paying $4K+, then this isn’t full fledged in house role right

you did imply that OP, changing from private practise to in house fell under your category of "did not get a good job and made parents worry about his/her future" did you not? Is that not what a definition of failure is according to your metric?

you misled them.

Also, FYI, you are implying that paralegals earn 4k+ as well. Do you have any idea how many years of experience a paralegal must have before they earn that amount? You are comparing a year 5-7 paralegal to a 0PQE-1PQE lawyer. Of course you would have the idea that a freshly called lawyer is a "failure".

Come back to reality. Stop watching Suits.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Yes, my question was indeed about ROI.

Fair enough, had he/she studied local, then ok - parents spent $35-50K locally and perhaps even on a local bank loan or supplemented by a CPF loan, so if the OP doesn’t want to work for money then so be it

But if his/her parents had sent him/her overseas, esp when his/her A levels results are subpar and couldn’t make it to local in the first place- then it’s the parents who ultimately suffer isn’t it

yo im working corporate so I guess I am considered in house too. My parents are worried for me because I earn too much money and I am constantly depressed over what to do with it.

im such a failure for making my parents worry. funny thing is im not even full fletched yet because my pay can increase more if i have more experience.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Honestly, numbers don’t lie. ROI is an indicator of whether it was worthwhile to pursue that route / option, seriously.

Next time you all buy house, you all also wanna know whether have capital again, and whether it’s worthwhile to service the interest on the mortgage against your rental yield.

Likewise, there are plenty of smart kids who scored 4-5As and did well in an arts course and joined the govt, banks, consultancies, etc.

So I’m just saying maybe the OP didn’t like law in the first place, and it’s just a pity for him, because he sounds v smart since he got a full scholarship overseas. Maybe if he had just done arts locally, he wouldn’t have suffered and in all likelihood would be drawing a better pay without doing what he perceives to be dreadful work.

That’s all!

Please.. for the love of God.. please tell me you are not working in a law firm and talking like that to your colleagues.

Please do not say anything out loud if this is how your brain works. For your own benefit, it is better to just keep quiet than gain enemies at your workplace.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

How much does a conveyancing lawyer gets paid

Say i open my own chinatown firm

That gravy train has passed with the race to the bottom by the Toa Payoh conveyancing firms. Plus, the established ones have all the connections with the the property agencies. Please don't bother unless you can stand dealing with haolian property agents driving their Merc C Class who look down on you while you take MRT from Toa Payoh station everyday.

Unironically, do family law. Steady stream of income and easy work apart from the occasional contentious cases.