Lawyer Salary

Originally Posted by LegalBeagle

Life in international firms is harsh but rewarding. Pay is better than anything a law student would ever imagine. Silver circle firms start their NQs at about 10k, while magic circle firms do about 12k. You’d be an “NQ” when you finish SG 2PQE. Monthly salaries generally increase by 2k each year thereafter until Year 8-10 or so, which is quite decent.

US firms pay even better, but generally work you somewhat harder (though i’d say the higher pay more than justifies this additional burden).

My advice is always to jump out of a big4 and go international as soon as you can. Then pull yourself all the way to the highest tier you can reach (Magic Circle or White Shoe ideally).

Sorry i can’t say much about work life balance. It’s a tough profession which rewards the tough. Definitely not a bed of roses. Been in the game 9 years and it doesn’t get any easier...

Idk what you’re on about. Trainee at an MC firm and I’m generally out the door by 7, maybe staying till 8 once or twice a week. Work life balance still not good compared to other jobs but amazing compared to the local firms.

[LegalBeagle]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Idk what you’re on about. Trainee at an MC firm and I’m generally out the door by 7, maybe staying till 8 once or twice a week. Work life balance still not good compared to other jobs but amazing compared to the local firms.

Been there done that young un... Year 4 Associate at a White Shoe firm in SG, full Cravath rates. And I took a huge discount coming over from an MC firm, where i was already a senior associate. The pay is amazing but the life is crap.

I can’t speak for all MC firms, but i’ve been in CC and i’m well aware that if you’re a trainee in an MC firm and you’re going home at 7pm, you’re in a spot of trouble. CC’s annual utilisation requirements for associates is 1800 billable hours. And when you factor in sick leave, holidays, reservist etc, you need at least 8+ billable hours a day to hit that target.

As an associate in CC if you miss that target, you get a measly half month bonus, and nasty looks from a grumpy boss. If you consistently miss that target as a trainee, I would suggest you start preparing your CV, as MC firms are big on utilisation and they don’t like deadweights.

You might think 8 hours a day ain’t half bad. You can cram those in from between 9am and 7pm. Well, wait till you become an Associate and start managing trainee development programmes, BD, billing, matter management, knowhow, internal events, business travel and other activities which take up craploads of time without upping your utilisation. Then revisit this thread and tell me whether averaging 8 billable hours a day is a walk in the park.

And then, if you ever make the jump to a white shoe firm... 2100 billable hours a year await you.

Still think practice is going to be a walk in the park?

Originally Posted by LegalBeagle

Been there done that young un... Year 4 Associate at a White Shoe firm in SG, full Cravath rates. And I took a huge discount coming over from an MC firm, where i was already a senior associate. The pay is amazing but the life is crap.

I can’t speak for all MC firms, but i’ve been in CC and i’m well aware that if you’re a trainee in an MC firm and you’re going home at 7pm, you’re in a spot of trouble. CC’s annual utilisation requirements for associates is 1800 billable hours. And when you factor in sick leave, holidays, reservist etc, you need at least 8+ billable hours a day to hit that target.

As an associate in CC if you miss that target, you get a measly half month bonus, and nasty looks from a grumpy boss. If you consistently miss that target as a trainee, I would suggest you start preparing your CV, as MC firms are big on utilisation and they don’t like deadweights.

You might think 8 hours a day ain’t half bad. You can cram those in from between 9am and 7pm. Well, wait till you become an Associate and start managing trainee development programmes, BD, billing, matter management, knowhow, internal events, business travel and other activities which take up craploads of time without upping your utilisation. Then revisit this thread and tell me whether averaging 8 billable hours a day is a walk in the park.

And then, if you ever make the jump to a white shoe firm... 2100 billable hours a year await you.

Still think practice is going to be a walk in the park?

Second this. I'm currently a trainee at an international law firm. The only time I'm going home at 7/8 is when (1) I'm going to work from home till 2am, or (2) it's a very bad lull period. My usual day is at least 9 hours (billable/no billable) hours. Peak periods can be easily 14-15 hours for weeks.

As an associate our cutoff is 1600 hours billable. With the nonbillables it can easily hit 2100.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Second this. I'm currently a trainee at an international law firm. The only time I'm going home at 7/8 is when (1) I'm going to work from home till 2am, or (2) it's a very bad lull period. My usual day is at least 9 hours (billable/no billable) hours. Peak periods can be easily 14-15 hours for weeks.

As an associate our cutoff is 1600 hours billable. With the nonbillables it can easily hit 2100.

Eversheds Harry Elias doesn’t count.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Eversheds Harry Elias doesn’t count.

Nor does Morgan Lewis Stamford, Dentons Rodyk etc.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Nor does Morgan Lewis Stamford, Dentons Rodyk etc.

Yeah hilarious that ppl in such firms think they are in international.
International is Milbank, White & Case, those kind

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Yeah hilarious that ppl in such firms think they are in international.
International is Milbank, White & Case, those kind

Huh I think everyone who's a practising lawyer knows that unless you're a student of course

3 am... mbfc firm... am i going to be retained...

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Huh I think everyone who's a practising lawyer knows that unless you're a student of course

Except then when they say "international" instead of "MC/SC/US", its more likely than not just someone whos severely deluded into thinking their JLV means anything.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

3 am... mbfc firm... am i going to be retained...

Lol it seems you haven’t heard from seniors that it doesn’t matter how long you stay every night...
Some ppl stay until 5-6am never get retained.
Some stay 8pm M-F retained.