This guy clearly uninformed. US$225k a year after tax is about US$150k a year or about US$12.5k a month. That’s about $17k SGD which is about or slightly less than what a big 4 JP takes home.

ya, that's what their US NQ (equivalent to out SG NQ minus 1-2 years) makes.

and you're comparing it saying it's equivalent to a "JP"


says a lot don't you think.

Did you go to law school? I was replying the OP, who said that they make a salary a JP “can only dream of”. I was just correcting him that the JPs make something equivalent, so the statement is inaccurate.

In any case, the US grads also spend an additional 3 years studying for their JD

It is true that the salary does not come for free. However, intl firms tend to bill at US/UK rates for lawyers, which are far higher than the SG rate (not even factoring for currency strength).

Therefore, intl firm lawyers need to hit less billable targets to earn the same amount as local b4 lawyers.

This translates to more *hypothetical* down time for the intl firm lawyers. Of course, YMMV.

Will be joining a construction law team soon but having second thoughts

Any construction lawyers here can share how did u find your passion for this practice area? It seems very narrow and dry. Even a specialized area like IP seems marginally more interesting

How does ur construction and built environment sector knowledge translate to exit ops? Whether to other practice areas like infrastructure n projects, or to inhouse industries?

Hope to hear some thoughts!

If local practice, the most you can aspire to is SOPA adjudicator and SAL specialist lol

SOPA adjudicator more for glory of playing at being judge, the pay is like CLAS honorarium

SAL specialist sounds nice on your firm website, but need to take a lot of exams and don't really do much for BD imo. Construction law sector so small here anwyay

Hope you like stupidly tight timelines if your team is going to be SOPA focused

SOPA actions have very very tight timelines, expect to burn the midnight oil if your firm specialises in that.

Skills-wise not that much different from normal litigation/arbitration teams except you do a lot of document review. Your likely future roles will be in construction though, because construction teams pay a premium for construction-trained lawyers (and because nobody wants to do this field).

Exit is usually to construction in-house firms also.

Aug 2022 called. Sg qualified. Salary 9-10k per month gross including bonus. Private practice. But very good hours. Average about 7hours billables a day. Late nights rare. How do I fare if I'm not inclined to work more hours for more money (for eg. going to mc or sc firms)?

if you're happy where you are, stay where you are - no need to think so much