Lawyer Salary

Originally Posted by Unregistered

In my 2nd year of practice here from NUS, I know many of the GLBs from my cohort (friends or acquaintances). I think the sample size of the GLB intake is too small to make any such form of generalisation. And they only do 3 years so there's less opportunity for them to land some form of awards or prizes or dean's list etc.

The truth of the matter is that these years have been the worst time to graduate as a law student in recent memory, and many firms in Singapore are facing challenging economic times. Beneath the veneer of glitz and prestige that even some of the big firms are presenting, they are desperately cost cutting and tightening their budget.

It amazes me how ignorant we all were about the structural & economic challenges in the market when we were students...the very same market that all of us were vying so hard to get into. These are the things they don't tell you at Careers Fair.

The difficulty that we faced as students landing a TC was but a taste of how poorly the market is doing, compared to pre GFC (2008). We have solid second Uppers and Firsts from reputable UK universities failing to get into the big 4.

What's more, many of my peers who did land a big 4 TC didn't survive the cut for retention and have been floating around small to mid sized firms.

Hopefully the GLBs & JDs soon graduating are motivated by more than prestige and money, because due to luck of the draw or lack of a crystal ball, they are coming into a poor time to be a jobseeker in this market. If they're chaps who switched to law as a second career, hopefully they are mature enough to have more internalised reasons to become lawyers than just purely prestige, because they sure as hell took a big hit in opportunity cost with high risk and poor odds for a good ROI.

May I ask what would fall under the "reputable UK universities" you have mentioned?

Sticking to the spirit of the thread, anybody knows how much firms like Norton Rose is paying for their associates (from 1-4 PQE)?

for those not retained

where do you go to?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

for those not retained

where do you go to?

R&T for some

Originally Posted by Unregistered

R&T for some

Why R&T???

With the market doing so badly, are there any areas of law should I specialise in in terms of better prospects?

How about international arbitration?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

R&T for some

And where do they go to after that?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

With the market doing so badly, are there any areas of law should I specialise in in terms of better prospects?

How about international arbitration?

Generally anything international/cross-border is good. Remember that singapore is a hub, not a domestic market. The best opportunities are not domestic but international.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Generally anything international/cross-border is good. Remember that singapore is a hub, not a domestic market. The best opportunities are not domestic but international.

But remember anything international entails long hours, factoring in time differences, and the fact that you're competing with other hubs (like Hong Kong, India) for international cross border work. On the outset, all these international cross border work is something that every law student aspire to land a job in, but they are not aware (as interns) the true reality of international practice. You're required to sleep with your BB/IPhone, pull in all nighters consistently (with no lull), skip lunches/dinners because of the time difference (our lunch is someone's start of business, our sleeping hours is someone start of business, etc).

So it sounds rosy on paper but the reality is bad.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

But remember anything international entails long hours, factoring in time differences, and the fact that you're competing with other hubs (like Hong Kong, India) for international cross border work. On the outset, all these international cross border work is something that every law student aspire to land a job in, but they are not aware (as interns) the true reality of international practice. You're required to sleep with your BB/IPhone, pull in all nighters consistently (with no lull), skip lunches/dinners because of the time difference (our lunch is someone's start of business, our sleeping hours is someone start of business, etc).

So it sounds rosy on paper but the reality is bad.

How much better is the pay?