Lawyer Salary

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I think it's worth for young lawyers these days to explore employment opportunities in Hong Kong, which is a much bigger legal market than in Singapore. I have a couple of friends who have done that.

Yeah the people I know who have done that all have a uk LLB.
I’m a local grad only

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Anyone knows what Virtus Law is like?

FLA with Stephenson Harwood. Known for shipping disputes practice. TC/NQ pays similar to Big 4

Originally Posted by Unregistered

A UK FCH is a dime a dozen nowadays, and as a trainee, don't expect to start on the UK scale.

The pecking order of firms in terms of pay for a junior is something like this:

1. US White Shoe Firms (eg Milbank, MoFo, LW, W&C) - these pay over 20k per month but only usually start taking in juniors at 2 PQE and beyond (SG scale)
2. Other US firms (e.g. Dechert) - less than White Shoe Firms but more than Magic/Silver Circle firms (not confirmed)
3. UK Magic or Silver Circle firms (e.g. CC, Links, HSF, A&O, Ashurst, Hogan Lowells - note, L&L side not counted) - these pay around 12-13k per month for 2 PQE (SG scale)
4. BMWL, NRF, Clyde - these pay around 8-10k for 2PQE (not sure about Ascendant though)
5. Big 4 - these pay about 7-8k for 2PQE
6. Firms like WKW, Dentons, TSMP, and other boutiques (e.g. Blackoak or the accounting-linked law firms) pay similar or slightly less than Big 4. These also include some JVs like MPillay and Morgan Lewis).
7. Then you have everyone else. Some of the JVs also fall in this tier like EHE or DMS.

Most of the JVs are scams, the only obviously integrated ones (i.e. where you aren't on local payscale and the place functions as one firm) are BMWL, Clyde, CC (not sure about about the smaller ones though).

TC wise, above the Big 4 only CC & BMWL offer TCs. Although A&O has a UK-linked TC and Ascendant is now offering TCs on behalf of NRF - don't know how integrated they are to NRF though. So if you wanna start as a trainee in Singapore and want to go "above" Big 4, you only have very few choices.

Good post. Group 2 "Other US firms" pay mc - mid atlantic rates. I think W&C falls under Group 2 and Group 1 includes King & Spalding and Shearman. For TCs "above Big 4", I think it could also include Simmons & Simmons and Ashurst (ADT).

Originally Posted by Unregistered

FLA with Stephenson Harwood. Known for shipping disputes practice. TC/NQ pays similar to Big 4

We all know shipping is dead these days

yeah i was just thinking of that too. Coupled with the disaster that's hitting the commodities trading firms (think Hin Leong), it might just be the proverbial straw that breaks the camel back with regards to the shipping industry.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Yeah the people I know who have done that all have a uk LLB.
I’m a local grad only

Seems like UK grads outdoing local grads all over the place. No wonder local grads so bitter towards them.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

yeah i was just thinking of that too. Coupled with the disaster that's hitting the commodities trading firms (think Hin Leong), it might just be the proverbial straw that breaks the camel back with regards to the shipping industry.

Yeah and banks are already cutting back on commodity lending. Can foresee there will be extra regulatory practices against such firms after their malpractice (think Hin Leong's accumulated derivatives losses of $800 million and Zenrock's secondary financing deals) were discovered. Such regulatory regimes will be an advantage for the lawyers in reg but then would be more costly for firms (which would effectively bar them from many activities).

Originally Posted by Unregistered

From the epidemic, I realise most big corporations and banks tend to engage big 4s instead of the international firms in SG. I wonder if it’s more cost effective for them since they’re paying lower rates for same quality/speed of work.

Totally different types of work. Local firms get engaged for Singapore law, international firms get engaged for internationl/offshore work.

Apples and oranges.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Spend 200K knowing that most MCs/SCs/US only hire from Oxbridge and LSE unless you're the token diversity?

After Theresa May and Brexit and Covid-19?

The fact is the lower tiers cannot get to NUS

Lmao it’s okay if you want to be bitter but please stop spreading lies or impressionable JC/poly kids might actually believe you.

Doubt you have even set foot in an international firm before or you’d know their graduate makeup is incredibly diverse.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Yeah the people I know who have done that all have a uk LLB.
I’m a local grad only

There are quite a number of NUS and SMU graduates in Hong kong!