Lawyer Salary

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Yes I mean all this **** talk/bragging about schools resemble frogs in a well arguing over whose medula oblongata is bigger. Law is a sunset industry. Yes, the world needs lawyers. But the world does not need that many.

Let's be real. All this bickering shows that the market is saturated and long gone are the golden days. Ask any senior lawyer.

Go to tech oil finance or drop shipping. That's where the real money is, and money talks. Anyone worth a hoot could hire a better lawyer than you ever will be, regardless of what you say about his school

You are clearly ignorant. The university ranking shows it all. NUS Law > any other schools besides Oxbridge.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

You are clearly ignorant. The university ranking shows it all. NUS Law > any other schools besides Oxbridge.

Yes, for TCs at Chinatown

What's Part B failure rate like?

My firm is thinking of not retaining my juniors

Originally Posted by Unregistered

What's Part B failure rate like?

My firm is thinking of not retaining my juniors

From anecdotal evidence, seems to be same as previous years, 60-70% pass rate (although it seems more ppl failed crim due to the "fail one qns fail the paper rule") before retakes, and then (I assume since results are not out) 99% after retakes.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

From anecdotal evidence, seems to be same as previous years, 60-70% pass rate (although it seems more ppl failed crim due to the "fail one qns fail the paper rule") before retakes, and then (I assume since results are not out) 99% after retakes.

I heard the failure rate this year was higher. Trainees please do tell. What horrors have you been through

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I heard the failure rate this year was higher. Trainees please do tell. What horrors have you been through

I thought it was okay leh. Some questions were a bit WTF but overall the papers were doable.

I’d say about a third of the people in my social circle failed one paper at the first sitting. Common culprits this year are ACP, crim, wills.

Based on seniors’ experiences, most people who fail a paper just do the retakes, pass, and move on. It doesn’t seem like a huge deal.

Failing two papers or the retakes is probably a red flag though.

Most big US firms are giving craaaaazy bonuses right now s://abovethelaw.com/2021/03/special-bonus-tracker-2021/.

Work has been through the roof for them and they are throwing money at their associates to stop them from quitting due to burnout.

Be careful what you wish for salary wise.

But also, brb looking at doing a BARBRI course and becoming a US summer associate.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Most big US firms are giving craaaaazy bonuses right now s://abovethelaw.com/2021/03/special-bonus-tracker-2021/.

Work has been through the roof for them and they are throwing money at their associates to stop them from quitting due to burnout.

Be careful what you wish for salary wise.

But also, brb looking at doing a BARBRI course and becoming a US summer associate.

this forum should focus on SG lawyers' salaries and experiences.

not sure why everyone is always harping on about US pay - law is a graduate degree there, law graduates are often up to their ears in debt (both undergrad tuition and law school tuition), the US bar exam is closed book, and it is very common for people to be renting their own apartments in high COL places like NYC, Boston, SF *during* law school. given those costs (time costs & monetary expenses), their high salaries make sense. and many people don't survive very long in biglaw anyway

Originally Posted by Unregistered

this forum should focus on SG lawyers' salaries and experiences.

not sure why everyone is always harping on about US pay - law is a graduate degree there, law graduates are often up to their ears in debt (both undergrad tuition and law school tuition), the US bar exam is closed book, and it is very common for people to be renting their own apartments in high COL places like NYC, Boston, SF *during* law school. given those costs (time costs & monetary expenses), their high salaries make sense. and many people don't survive very long in biglaw anyway

Because you can work for Gunderson or Latham in Singapore and get that same salary.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Because you can work for Gunderson or Latham in Singapore and get that same salary.

The top 1% will get to work there. The next 4% will work in a US firm. The next 5% will work in a UK magic circle or other firm.

In all, roughly around 10% of Singaporean lawyers will work in an international firm. I'm not talking about those fake tie ups.

Objectively speaking, 1 out of 10 isn't good odds. you may think you're good or a very good lawyer, but it probably isn't good enough for the top 10 percentile. And the vast majority are average lawyers - that's why it's called an average.

Most of us lawyers think we're fairly bright and very hardworking. But firstly, the top among us are even brighter and work harder than you can fathom. And secondly, being smart and working hard in itself isn't even enough without the other X factors.

The reality for most of us is that we will be stuck practising law on mediocre salaries doing mediocre work. The stuff that even the big 4 law firms do in Singapore isn't at the cutting edge of litigation or finance