To think that no newly qualified lawyer can be worth a salary of £150k?

it is possible.

My best friend works at a top london firm and has been qualified for 4 years and is on 80k already having changed roles and asked for higher salaries. 2 years ago she was on 50k

however she works 12 hrs a day and she is exhausted.

From what I’ve heard from her, you need to be constantly looking for the better paying firm.
she and her colleagues all have a similar thoughts in that they won’t stay somewhere for more than 2-3 years . They’ll look for the next position with the higher salary because the same place that they’re in now won’t give them the raise that they want.

In her last job she tried to negotiate a raise on her 50k they said no she left and is now in her 80k firm

YABU to use the term ‘snobby London firms’.

If you pay someone that much, you own them.

My friend worked for Freshfields as a new graduate til her thirties. 100 hour weeks were a regular occurrence.

When was the last time you left work, went home to sleep for 45m, then got up to respond to a client call and started working again?

Plus she's bloody intelligent. I'd put money on her being smarter than you because she's smarter than most people.

I've run businesses. It's as simple as "if I pay this person 10k, 20k, 30k, 100k whatever, they will bring more than that money into the business". The number doesn't matter.

They aren't worth it.

They're paying that so they get pick of the crop and then week out the ones who aren't worth it a year or two down the line.

They can't. They get that to recruit high potential candidates and they ruthlessly weed out any that they don't think will make the grade. They also work them ridiculously hard.

It does seem nuts, but I guess this is their payoff for going to certain universities, paying a lot of money and knowing the right people (also getting a first) but yes six months in you know very very little and have few client-related skills.
There was an interesting post on this on LinkedIn the other week. Will find it.

You sound a bit bitter. I know from experience they put in extremely long hours and combined with their charge out rates they make back their salary several times over.

You could have gone down the MC route in the 80s and 90s if you’d chosen to and circumstances allowed. You didn’t. Don’t begrudge people who choose to do it now.