Lawyer Salary

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Agree with the above poster that it's worth it if you really hate what you do.

But honestly, now's not really a good time to make the move into corp... and it's also quite difficult finding partners willing to hire corp lawyers with 0 corp exp at 3 pqe (even if you are willing to take a damn big pay cut).

I'd say try anyway, but make sure it's what you really want to do. Seniors can usually understand making a change once, but rarely ever look kindly on assocs who make such a change twice or make a u-turn a couple of years down the road (whatever they may say).

Have you thought about switching specializations within liti?

I am the OP wanting to make the switch. Thanks for the response. Never thought of doing anything disputes related anymore because I dislike going to court.

I am thinking of going in-house (at or around the same pay) or do corp at another big 4 (likely with pay cut based on speaking to other laterals).

No guarantee I won’t hate corp, but my mindset is that if it allows me to stay in private practice and potentially enjoy it, maybe it’s worth a shot?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Thanks for sharing. What’s your PQE now?

6? depending on how you calculate, it's the pqe my salary is based on anyway.

Forgot to mention. Even though we're all overseas, most of us went big. One to big4 then int. one to mbfc t1 firm. Just in case you get people say saying overseas grads cmi that's why choose to leave practice. haha.

Most of us went on to regional in-house roles in big MNCs/F500s. All cited work-life balance as the reason for leaving. I suspect one may have simply read the signs on the wall (in that he wasn't up for partnership) and decided it was time to get out. Either way, he's still earning B4JP pay now so i don't think he got the short end of the stick.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

hmm I am not really wasting any PQE per se because its part of a 4 year NUS LLB + LLM degree programme. I'm also not sure which specialist course I want to get in yet. Do you have any suggestions on which courses I should look into? Thanks!

Again, i would say that you need to first ask yourself what you're interested in practicing in future. Or even where does your interest lie? What kind of electives did you choose in your undergrad?

You don't want to be applying for a corp role in Big4 and then having to explain why you did an LLM in arbitration (for which kcl is known).

In terms of practicality, i'd say you should consider:
(1) IP & information
(2) Competition
(3) International financial regulation

Even then, i'd say stick with the first 2. 3 only if you have the intention of entering this field (very few teams in sg do this well, just saying).

I would say the rest are not really very useful. Even arbitration - the fact is that most lawyers that do arbitration start out with court litigation and learn about DR otj. An LLM in arbitration isn't going to help or harm you in terms of getting a TC... but i guess it will show dedication to cause lah. I've always wanted to do arbitration...that's why....blah blah.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Again, i would say that you need to first ask yourself what you're interested in practicing in future. Or even where does your interest lie? What kind of electives did you choose in your undergrad?

You don't want to be applying for a corp role in Big4 and then having to explain why you did an LLM in arbitration (for which kcl is known).

In terms of practicality, i'd say you should consider:
(1) IP & information
(2) Competition
(3) International financial regulation

Even then, i'd say stick with the first 2. 3 only if you have the intention of entering this field (very few teams in sg do this well, just saying).

I would say the rest are not really very useful. Even arbitration - the fact is that most lawyers that do arbitration start out with court litigation and learn about DR otj. An LLM in arbitration isn't going to help or harm you in terms of getting a TC... but i guess it will show dedication to cause lah. I've always wanted to do arbitration...that's why....blah blah.

right i see that makes sense. thanks for the advice!

Originally Posted by Unregistered

right i see that makes sense. thanks for the advice!

LLMs are jackshit. B4 here. Dont take

Originally Posted by Unregistered

LLMs are jackshit. B4 here. Dont take

Yes. i've (we have all) said as much. But our dear junior here wants to take it as part of his NUS LLB+LLM joint degree course. If so, then we should try to help him out as best we can, no?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Yes. i've (we have all) said as much. But our dear junior here wants to take it as part of his NUS LLB+LLM joint degree course. If so, then we should try to help him out as best we can, no?

yup thanks for understanding!!

Anyway if you're doing the LLM as part of your 4 year NUS LLB, it's a no-brainer. Do it.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Anyway if you're doing the LLM as part of your 4 year NUS LLB, it's a no-brainer. Do it.

... Dear junior is not asking if he should do it.... Dear junior is asking which specialization he should pursue, if at all (generalist llms are good too if you don't know what you want to do).

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Yes. i've (we have all) said as much. But our dear junior here wants to take it as part of his NUS LLB+LLM joint degree course. If so, then we should try to help him out as best we can, no?

Don't lah brother not worth the fees.


B4 guy