Lawyer Salary

WongP announced retention today, can confirm almost everyone retained

Originally Posted by Unregistered

WongP announced retention today, can confirm almost everyone retained

as a law student, can i just ask out of curiosity....for what reasons might someone not be retained, since it seems less likely?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

as a law student, can i just ask out of curiosity....for what reasons might someone not be retained, since it seems less likely?

Must be a unicorn in a Big 4 or from a smaller firm. Think there must be some firms with 0 retention.

Anyone know what salary is like for AGC/SLS officers?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

as a law student, can i just ask out of curiosity....for what reasons might someone not be retained, since it seems less likely?

Based on personal experience at big 4: They do mean it in these firms when they say they hire with a view to retention, but the situations which might make them not want to are usually personal attributes like laziness, difficult personality, not a team player etc.

Being bad at the work does not usually disqualify you. Trainees are there to learn and making mistakes is part of the process. However, I do recall one case where the trainee was so inept and submitted research which was blatantly wrong that s/he was not retained.

Hey everyone, does everyone know the payscale of the AGC as compared to the Big4.

Specifically, alot of seniors in the civil sector claim that their pay is not too different (or even exceeds the Big4 pay in total compensation in the first 3-5 years). Does anyone know if that is true?

What I've heard so far:
- I know the big4 progression will be approximately, 500 part b, 2k trainee, 5.8k NQ, 800-900 every following year till PQE4-5.
- I know that the AGC pays full salary for graduates during part b and TC (meaning 6 months additional salary compared to the 500 part b allowance and 2k trainee honorarium). But what is their pay for a 1st class degree, and what's the pay for a 2nd upper?

Is this accurate?

Also, is the bonus situation very different? I heard that the big4 tends to pay 2 months (on top of the frontloaded bonus) - is the 2months based on the frontloaded salary or the "actual" salary - ergo is it 4k*2 or 6k*2?

For the AGC, is the bonus really about 4months or has that been exaggerated? If anyone can help to create a chart of total compensation for AGC as compared to big4, it would be greatly appreciated!

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Based on personal experience at big 4: They do mean it in these firms when they say they hire with a view to retention, but the situations which might make them not want to are usually personal attributes like laziness, difficult personality, not a team player etc.

Being bad at the work does not usually disqualify you. Trainees are there to learn and making mistakes is part of the process. However, I do recall one case where the trainee was so inept and submitted research which was blatantly wrong that s/he was not retained.

I largely agree. Most big 4 teams I've seen are quite slow to drop trainees unless that person is really jialat.

Apart from things not really within the trainee's control (i.e. sufficient team billings to retain), reasons include:
- general incompetence, no common sense, carelessness (never check work against primary documents, assume this assume that without proper basis, etc)
- attitude (lazy, intentionally / recklessly slipshod work, entitled / stuck-up)
- bad 'fit' with the team (don't underestimate this)

Being a star performer in school but doesn't mean one is immune from the above.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I largely agree. Most big 4 teams I've seen are quite slow to drop trainees unless that person is really jialat.

Apart from things not really within the trainee's control (i.e. sufficient team billings to retain), reasons include:
- general incompetence, no common sense, carelessness (never check work against primary documents, assume this assume that without proper basis, etc)
- attitude (lazy, intentionally / recklessly slipshod work, entitled / stuck-up)
- bad 'fit' with the team (don't underestimate this)

Being a star performer in school but doesn't mean one is immune from the above.

Honest question here, I know that pretty/handsome people generally have it easier in life, but is there a trend of retaining only the prettier recruits as opposed to the smarter but uglier ones? Like is it an open secret that attractive trainees will be retained regardless of work quality?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Honest question here, I know that pretty/handsome people generally have it easier in life, but is there a trend of retaining only the prettier recruits as opposed to the smarter but uglier ones? Like is it an open secret that attractive trainees will be retained regardless of work quality?

Not generally, but there are specific partners that do this.
There are partners who'll tell their pals that all other things being the same, they'll choose the ones with "nicer legs". Heard this with my own ears and honestly didn't know how to hide my disgust.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Not generally, but there are specific partners that do this.
There are partners who'll tell their pals that all other things being the same, they'll choose the ones with "nicer legs". Heard this with my own ears and honestly didn't know how to hide my disgust.

I agree that this kind of hiring practice is uncommon, but pockets of this do exist