Is he lying about his salary

Well he's not in the magic circle.

Yeah I was also going to say this

I’ve had friends on salaries like this at a young age who didn’t go out much or on holidays - then just whacked it on a huge deposit for a really nice house

it’s happened quite a few times in my (London) friendship circle

whilst we couldn’t buy anything for years and years due to renting and not being thrifty

@DodoTired its NOT magic circle…

my company in house lawyers make about 130k with bonus. (This is 6-8 years exp)

I think it is plausible.
the lawyers I know have salaries between 100k ish up to 550k (that one has NO life and travels to America 4 x per month 😵‍💫) none are
magic circle now bar one (not the high earner) but I don’t know any human rights lawyers….

3 of our lawyer friends lived “impoverished” lives until they put down 3/4/500k deposits on places 😅

i “lived at home” when earning 115k pa if that helps 🤷🏻‍♀️

The people I know in law tend to come from quite a narrow background & had help to get on the ladder at an early age etc. it could be he’s not from this background.

Think it’s completely plausible

even if it’s a uk national firm then he would be about 6 years PQE by now - and over £100k would be entirely normal - it was close to £100k even ten years ago

if it’s a US firm he could be earning double that! And a magic circle firm close to £200k minimum

he is probably saving to buy a two or three bed somewhere - either a flat in central or a house in the suburbs and honestly sounds like he is being really really sensible!

It's entirely possible in London.

Is it perhaps possible he isn't living "the lifestyle" you expect as he is saving up a deposit.

I only know one person on that salary, he also still lives at home and lives "the lifestyle" you would expect of someone on that salary. However he is now 40 with fuck all savings and no prospect of buying a house.

As others have said Google the firm.

Absolutely yes, 30 year old lawyers can earn that much (and much more) and live with parents. Human rights lawyers : hmm, not so convinced. Public law yes. If you really want to get technical, you can look up the name of the firm on roll on Friday and see the average PEP for the equity partners and extrapolate from there.

call me old fashioned but I think it’s gauche to talk about how much you earn to anyone other than a live-in partner or spouse. Dh and I are lawyers and most of our friends are lawyers but we don’t know what anyone earns (save for when it’s reported in the press!).

Im surprised he’s making only 130k. Newly qualified lawyers in magic circle are now hired on 150K. Must be quite a small firm he is at

MC get paid very differently to other lawyers.

Can't you just search the salaries for his firm? It shouldn't be too hard to work out.

I previously worked for a top 50 firm (1000 staff plus). Their newly qualified solicitors are paid £65k in London and £50k outside London.

He could well be paid that but the issue is that you don’t believe him and possibly you don’t want to date someone who earns well but lives frugally.

Public and human rights law doesn't tend to be that well paid.

Commercial/corporate law, I could easily believe it.

Unlikely for that specialism, unless he's at a firm that specialises in it and he's one of the best.

If he's got student loans being paid off he probably isn't taking home as much as you think.

Give him a break I would be proud if I earned that

When you say lifestyle, do you mean he’s stingy? That would put me off, big time. I wouldn’t expect him necessarily to pick up all the bills, but being mean about tips, not buying his rounds etc would be off putting.

Im surprised he’s making only 130k. Newly qualified lawyers in magic circle are now hired on 150K. Must be quite a small firm he is at

It doesn't sound you trust him anyway so he's probably not the one for you.

He could have a lot of debt? Or be saving for a deposit?

Seems in the right ball park for that job.

DH was earning similar when we met and he lived in house shares in London until we bought our first place in our 30s. If his parents had lived in London I expect he would have lived with them, he's always been extremely savvy with money and was squirreling away a large six figure deposit for our first home.

He doesn’t have to be spending a lot just because he’s earning a lot. He sounds really sensible tbh. Living at home and saving to buy his own property! It’s preferable than spending thousands on rent and then complaining her can’t afford a deposit.

Some people are frugal or saving for long term goals, doesn't mean he's lying.

Law firms are fairly open about salary ranges. Have you searched the firm name and salary ranges? And if you've located him on SRA you'll see how many years PQE he is.

Trust issues aside of course. My now DH was living with his parents whilst on a decent salary and saving when I met him.. Then we bought a place together.

Sorry - put me off! Considering you've only just met

Possible. But it would me off that he volunteered this info.