to ask if you think this salary is reasonable or am I being greedy?

[bkyegres]

I qualified as a solicitor in 2016, so I’m around 7 years pqe. I’m paid 62k in Bham, commercial rather than private client work. I’ve only just paid off my student loan last year and honestly I feel like the firm are taking the piss… all the studying and expense feels ridiculous to be seven years on and barely over 50k. Obviously I know what some other firms pay and I can look into it further with recruiters but I am starting to wonder if you have to join a new company for any decent pay these days?! I could have skipped uni and worked my way up to this salary by now so it all seems a bit pointless.

@SeasonFinale

Can I ask why the incomes are so vastly different?

On the NQ columns there are some that earn £52,000 and some that earn £150,000.

How can two lawyers with the same qualifications have £100k difference?

It's irrelevant to compare to other professions. Yes of course it's a good salary by UK average standards, but if all her professional peers are earning more for doing the exact same job then it's unfair.

Sounds low to me. My sister started on more than that at a London firm about 20 years ago. You have done so much work to qualify, I think you deserve a higher salary than that too.

I only know one lawyer; he's a friends husband and earns over 300k so I'd say yes, there is plenty of opportunity for you to earn more OP

If your salary feels too low to you, just get either a promotion or change jobs for a pay rise. Doesn't seem overly difficult to me.

I think you should look elsewhere as £62k whilst a very good salary, isn't on parr with your field. My GM is on more than that and I work in FM... for your field yes, you are being underpaid

City law/magic circle (stuff like financial services, contracts, commercial litigation, IP) pays a lot more than a provincial firm doing mostly family/employment law or than a retail conveyancing firm. Depends on the value of the clients basically.

It depends on practice area, geographical location and how elite the firm is.

Some top US firms pay newly qualified lawyers in London over £100k. In some small regional firms the partners don't earn that much.

I have a BA; MA; PhD; published 3 books and numerous articles. I work as a lecturer in a university. I have 20 years of HE experience.

(And in case any people from the thread of how awful it is that uni staff are undertaking Action Short of a Strike, I'm on £40k).

Your salary seems good to me.

Your PhD isn’t in labour market economics I’m guessing.

9PQE lawyer at a large regional firm and I earned a good chunk more than that at 7PQE. You can get better money elsewhere - but yes, you will likely need to move firms as expect there will be limited wiggle room for individual increases at your current firm (if it’s anything like mine - for us increases are done annually, are lockstepped across the firm and variances are banded based on your review grade).

It's a decent salary. I'm a nurse, I have an undergrad degree and a masters. I'm half way through another PG diploma in a different area which I need for my job. I'm on £39k at present. That salary will rise over the next few years, but only to £46k. That's for a senior clinician and alongside my clinical duties, I assist the senior charge nurse in leading a team of other clinicians (nurses, OTs and social workers).

I'm in no way complaining about my salary as I have band 2 colleagues on a pittance, but yeah, I don't think that my salary is commensurate for the job that I do.

I do get that you're disgruntled with your salary though; one would assume that your job would pay a bit better than it does. Do you have any scope for career progression and thus a higher salary?

A million times this. Particularly how mumsnet views any woman earning more than a teacher or nurse.

I'm a much maligned train driver, devil incarnate on here. The audacity for an industry as blue collar as mine to earn decent money blows most people's minds on mumsnet. Well, not just mumsnet. I used to (and still sometimes do) try and explain the role properly but now when someone tells me I don't even have to steer I just smile and say it's great isn't it. You can see the rage build.

If that’s all you’re earning you aren’t very good.

City firms such as US firms start at about £125000 for newly qualified. In Cambridge it's about £45k for newly qualified.

So it will depend on specialism, type of firm and region you are practising and is based on what their potential hourly charge out rates will be (ie type of clients).

Are you at a "city" Birmingham firm or a normal/High Street type firm?

I'm a partner at a firm in the SE and that would be in the range for an OK but not amazing associate.

Have you hit your target? What is your target? 3 x salary?

I am starting to wonder if you have to join a new company for any decent pay these days?

It’s not “these days” - twas ever thus. You need to move every 2-3 years and negotiate a pay bump each time. It’s really just that.

True, not specific to OPs question.
In a society where worth is so based on salary its sometimes nice to be able to rate your pay against other essential, and very highly qualified, professions.
We get fed images of extreme affluence constantly through the media so it can help us feel better about our relative status. Money isn't everything.

Agree! Teachers etc are way off this and also have to train for a number of years, then pass their ECT years before being fully qualified. I would love a salary of 50-60K but it will never happen.

All solicitors at my DH's major regional firm which does mainly corporate, commercial, commercial lit etc as well as employment and private client earn the same salaries relevant to their PQE ( in her case 7) and then they change on merit as they really legal director or salaried partner status and then profit share when equity partner.

It was similar when I was in practice in the city. I trust that clarifies the situation

I highly doubt that it has anything to do with being a blue collar profession.
Maybe because train services are shitty and expensive, yet train drivers keep striking?
Final salary pensions too apparently?
https://g.co/kgs/ze5Uuh

Totally agree with this. I'm an accountant. Recently managed to increase my salary from £55k to £80k by finally getting my head out of the sand and realising that my then employer was massively under valuing me.

You have been with your current employer for a number of years and are not considered a flight risk so they wont value you. Move and you will get market value. This is also what your current employer will have to pay to replace you.

Why are so many teachers jumping on this thread to say they earn less?!

Duh, doesn't everyone know solicitors earn more than teachers and have done forever? If you don't like it, and salary means that much to you, you should have chosen another qualification/profession (although let's face it, not every smart person could qualify as a lawyer). And I know plenty of primary school teachers who earn upwards of £45k who actually don't work beyond their contracted hours, so their salary is hardly bad, especially given the paid holidays!

I also have a degree and outstanding student loan. I graduated 11 years ago and earn £31k in the public sector. I'm not about to cry that I earn less than a solicitor, I would absolutely expect it.

Then why did you go into teaching?!

And I guarantee you have A LOT more paid holiday than any other profession.

@SeasonFinale I don't believe for a second your DH knows what everyone was paid.