Lawyer Salary

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Dude, one step at a time la..

You get in and do well then talk?

From what I know, the best that any SMU grad has gotten is big 4, just saying.

Just need to correct this.

Please see s://.davispolk.com/professionals/mun-bbill-tang/

He started there as a Trainee. I know him personally.

Hahaha. I wonder how Pippa feels now, after Brexit etc. Must have really sucked to be in the pioneer batch of graduates admitted to one of the omitted universities but no longer able to return to Singapore to practice, right? And now, this happens to put you even further SOL when you graduate in a few years.

Man, when things don't go your way, they really don't go your way.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hahaha. I wonder how Pippa feels now, after Brexit etc. Must have really sucked to be in the pioneer batch of graduates admitted to one of the omitted universities but no longer able to return to Singapore to practice, right? And now, this happens to put you even further SOL when you graduate in a few years.

Man, when things don't go your way, they really don't go your way.

there's a transitional period for delisted universities? anyway this Pippa character is a bit of an unhinged troll so who cares about him

IMO, there's really no point going overseas to study pure law now unless you're really loaded. the legal industry is crap now, and automation will replace lawyers in about 20+ years anyway.

you're better off studying PPE or just pure econs in UK. if you really want to studdy law, going to Oz is a far better option. The BCom LLB is a pretty good combi, you just need to overcome the stigma of Aussie unis being seen as inferior to UK ones.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

there's a transitional period for delisted universities? anyway this Pippa character is a bit of an unhinged troll so who cares about him

IMO, there's really no point going overseas to study pure law now unless you're really loaded. the legal industry is crap now, and automation will replace lawyers in about 20+ years anyway.

you're better off studying PPE or just pure econs in UK. if you really want to studdy law, going to Oz is a far better option. The BCom LLB is a pretty good combi, you just need to overcome the stigma of Aussie unis being seen as inferior to UK ones.

I'm from a local law school and, having worked with quite a few UK and AUS grads during internships and such, I've found that the average AUS grad (that I've met) has better research and writing skills than the average UK grad (not counting oxbridge) . This might be due to the academic cultures in both countries - the local AUS grads I've met on exchange have been the most competitive compared to other non Asian students.

My sample may not be representative though as my internships have been in the big4 and JLVs
- they might have been taking in the top AUS grads but not the top UK grads.

Any news on starting pay this August after mass call? Also how much are the JLVs paying?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Any news on starting pay this August after mass call? Also how much are the JLVs paying?

I find this recent obsession with JLVs rather curious, especially by uninformed students or fresh grads.

JLVs, FLA, etc are just largely there for branding purposes. They are essentially still the same local law firms under a different brand.

Perhaps there are some synergies at the work referral level, but that's not gonna affect you. What's relevant to you as a junior is that you will still work under largely local partners doing largely domestic work.

There are of course, some firms where there are real structural changes coming in with the foreign influence, but it is still very gradual. Local regulations still permit only 30% equity ownership by non-Singapore lawyers.

Don't be wowed by the newfangled ang moh names attached to the local firms. Most of the JLVs will still pay whatever salaries the market leaders set. And the market leaders remain the big 4 as always.

Source: i'm in one of these newfangled JLVs FLAs whatever you call them

Doesn't Baker pay an obscene amount?

Baker starts at 7.5, not front loaded (I. E. there is still a bonus paid out separately). Not obscene but more than the big4. The only other jlv/fla I know that pays more than the big4 is clifford chance

Agree that JLVs pay more at junior levels compared to big4. Depending on performance that can change at the mid levels - from 4-5 pqe onwards.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Agree that JLVs pay more at junior levels compared to big4. Depending on performance that can change at the mid levels - from 4-5 pqe onwards.

We need to differentiate between various JLVs.

Most JLVs do not pay more than local firms - they are basically local firms. Examples are Hogan Lovells Lee & Lee, RHT Law Taylor Wessing, Dentons Rodyk, Morgan Lewis Stamford.

Baker & McKenzie.Wong & Leow pays higher, as correctly stated by the poster above.

Clifford Chance - Cavenagh Law pays even higher, apparently double that of big 4 lawyers.

The mid levels of 4-5 PQE is when many lawyers in local firms seek to jump to international firms simply because the pay is higher. If the pay in local firms was higher, there would be nobody wanting to jump to international firms - this is obviously not the case.