Lawyer Salary

Originally Posted by Unregistered

got lobang on how to become pri sch pe teacher?

private tutor specialising in English and GP more worth it

Do people in international firms generally feel that they have made it in life?

How does the level of job satisfaction differ across people in different types of firms (eg chinatown, mid size, b4, MC)

Originally Posted by Unregistered

does anyone know of a 2.2 who actually made it into the international firms?

i do know a few, not straight out of lawsku, but a few years PQE under their belt, and then made the jump

Originally Posted by Unregistered

How does the level of job satisfaction differ across people in different types of firms (eg chinatown, mid size, b4, MC)

Mid sized more job satisfaction than B4.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

What’s new? With AI and automation, all these will be gone in another decade.
Maybe even faster.
That’s why already said, only FAANG, or those high level work like US securities law for capital raising in developing countries is the way to go.
The rest? You wanna fight with Wachtell, etc?
No chance

But we're not talking about wachtell and cravath lah. Lets keep the discussion limited to the Singapore context pls. Singapore is not New York. Its not a Wachtell/Cravath or nothing scenario.

Singapore is a mid market city so most lawyers here, no matter how good we are, only have the opportunity to work on mid market deals. If you want to work on the cutting edge deals, you won't actually be here. You'll already be in London or NY.

With that said, I really hope the international law firms are allowed free reign to practise here and push most of our subpar local law firms out of business. All our biggest local firms will likely be swallowed up.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

does anyone know of a 2.2 who actually made it into the international firms?

Me. I have a 2:2 from a UK university (not delisted yet, but not one of the top ones also). Mind you something like 85% of the cohort got 2:1 and above so my results were really quite terrible.

Did TC in mid-sized firm (got offered before my shitty third year results), jumped to B4 and then international. Worked really really hard and was always pretty much one of the top trainees and then associates in B4 firm.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

does anyone know of a 2.2 who actually made it into the international firms?

no point asking this qn over and over again here. you are probably looking for reassurance that your fk up in uni isnt fatal to w/e career you had in mind because you feel paiseh when you compare d*ck size with your peers.

you are not going to find that reassurance here.

if you didnt do well enough in a levels to do law at nus/smu/oxbridge, thats strike one. we meme about delisted unis etc but do your hw. how many people from liverpool, manc, auckland, god knows where else are in the b4, etc. those you can find, you can count on one hand. check their background. ask if they are well connected. you are probably not.

if you didnt do well enough in w/e 2nd tier uni you went to, thats strike two. if you can get 1st from manc or leicester or southampton, still not so bad. can try b4. depending on partner, can close one eye. if you have 2:1 like 99% of overseas students...why must hire you out of all of them? see where this is going?

if you have a 2:2 from leeds or w/e, pls stop daydreaming about working for b4 corp. its not going to happen in this day and age. out of the hundreds that jump to every linkedin job ad, why do you even think your app has a chance? the tons of 2:1 from nus, the w/e cum laude from smu, the 2:1 from lse/ucl/etc. why would the partner pick your grades over the others? how to explain to fortune 500 client that a freaking b4 firm hired someone mediocre out of the hundreds of better applicants to work on their multimillion dollar matter?

its more likely that if you practise it will be chinatown firm liti. i mean if you cant take the "shame" of doing 9am mentions in ct 4a or going to mnd for yet another mediation compared to your peers who working on aviation financing or w/e...you only have yourself to blame. should have done better for a levels and/or uni.

why do you think you have a chance of crossing over at some point when every year newly minted grads with 1sts put themselves up for consideration? you couldnt compete with your peers then, you want to compete with someone younger and possibly cheaper than what you are asking for and who is a blank slate ready to be trained to b4 way of doing things.

not saying its impossible. you can try. but dont come away from here with the one anecdote of "eh my friend did it sia, jump here and then there" and think yes, ONE person was lucky enough to do it, i can too.

if it sticks in your craw to put tan ah kow llp in peoples park centre on your cv, go and do something else with your life. so many others like you have worked for gov where honours degree is good enough, doesnt matter what classification, or worked for banks, be backend analyst or relationship manager or whatever.

law more so than the other professions unfortunately has to look at grades. you f*cked up in sch. these are the consequences.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

does anyone know of a 2.2 who actually made it into the international firms?

Not going to be as mean as the guy above me, who is a little bit misinformed about the selection criteria for int firms. To be very honest, for international firms (with some notable exceptions), they care more about your degree class than the provenance of your degree (unless you are from oxbridge/Ivy league). That is why you can see alot of int firm partners from "random" universities. While there is an old boy's club mentality at some int firms ("we only select from xxx unis"), this is increasingly disappearing.

But barring the most exceptional circumstances, you should at least have a 2.1 equivalent (and good CCAs or moots) to be considered. That will get you in the door for an interview. If you are 2.2, unless you're a Jessup winner or something similarly impressive, you are unlikely to succeed in even getting an interview.

However, all is not lost. I know plenty of people who went into big4/midsize with a 2.2 equivalent. Once there, you can try to lateral after 3 years. Since most UK int firms have TCs that are 2 years long, they will accept you at 1 PQE from your 3rd year (which is not that bad). Not going to lie, this will require alot of luck and hard work over the first few years of your PQE. By that time, if you are doing well at a local firm, you might not even want to jump to the int firm (where chances of making partner are slim to none).

Honestly, if you are a 2.2 equivalent, the road is going to be tough, and you should manage your expectations. But there are honestly much more work/jobs for lawyers than preceding years, and people who say that the industry is bad are likely partners trying to get you to accept lower salaries. Actually, in most bigger firms, work is increasing or maintaining at pre Covid-19 levels and many firms are actively recruiting. Just try your best, and don't be disheartened. Law is a marathon (in that most people quit after a few years), so as long as you survive, more opportunities will come!

Originally Posted by Unregistered

no point asking this qn over and over again here. you are probably looking for reassurance that your fk up in uni isnt fatal to w/e career you had in mind because you feel paiseh when you compare d*ck size with your peers.

you are not going to find that reassurance here.

if you didnt do well enough in a levels to do law at nus/smu/oxbridge, thats strike one. we meme about delisted unis etc but do your hw. how many people from liverpool, manc, auckland, god knows where else are in the b4, etc. those you can find, you can count on one hand. check their background. ask if they are well connected. you are probably not.

if you didnt do well enough in w/e 2nd tier uni you went to, thats strike two. if you can get 1st from manc or leicester or southampton, still not so bad. can try b4. depending on partner, can close one eye. if you have 2:1 like 99% of overseas students...why must hire you out of all of them? see where this is going?

if you have a 2:2 from leeds or w/e, pls stop daydreaming about working for b4 corp. its not going to happen in this day and age. out of the hundreds that jump to every linkedin job ad, why do you even think your app has a chance? the tons of 2:1 from nus, the w/e cum laude from smu, the 2:1 from lse/ucl/etc. why would the partner pick your grades over the others? how to explain to fortune 500 client that a freaking b4 firm hired someone mediocre out of the hundreds of better applicants to work on their multimillion dollar matter?

its more likely that if you practise it will be chinatown firm liti. i mean if you cant take the "shame" of doing 9am mentions in ct 4a or going to mnd for yet another mediation compared to your peers who working on aviation financing or w/e...you only have yourself to blame. should have done better for a levels and/or uni.

why do you think you have a chance of crossing over at some point when every year newly minted grads with 1sts put themselves up for consideration? you couldnt compete with your peers then, you want to compete with someone younger and possibly cheaper than what you are asking for and who is a blank slate ready to be trained to b4 way of doing things.

not saying its impossible. you can try. but dont come away from here with the one anecdote of "eh my friend did it sia, jump here and then there" and think yes, ONE person was lucky enough to do it, i can too.

if it sticks in your craw to put tan ah kow llp in peoples park centre on your cv, go and do something else with your life. so many others like you have worked for gov where honours degree is good enough, doesnt matter what classification, or worked for banks, be backend analyst or relationship manager or whatever.

law more so than the other professions unfortunately has to look at grades. you f*cked up in sch. these are the consequences.

Sounds you scored well in school but realised life is still sh*t