If you are a solicitor 4yrs +qe how much do you get paid?

[Owlettecatboy]

Title says it all. I'm 6 years post qualifying at a largish national firm. I've been there for 10years. Great appraisals and no problems with targets etc. I have always known that my pay was a bit shit but I've had a bit of an epiphany and started just looking at what's out there. I've seen one paralegal position at a starting salary the same as mine and several NQ post starting about 8 grand more than I currently earn, which is 32,500. I'm being shafted aren't I?

What happened in PI/cn?

Jackson. Fixed fees. Banning of success fees. Work no longer profitable.

All of this was to cut solicitors fees to pass on the savings and to cause insurance premiums to lower. But car insurance premiums have risen every single year even though solicitors fees for PI have been decimated.

What utter bullshit

I really dont know what to do

How long has it been?

I found that having a fairly prestigious pedigree made it harder to adjust and regroup. It's not a time I look back on with fondness....

Its been a year now.

Lots of near misses but nothing concrete.

I trained at a top firm in that field.
I dont get it.

Thanks for the

Niki where are you based? There seems to be a lot of Defendant work around if you are prepared to go to the dark side!

London.

I would happily go to the dark side.

But defendants wont take claimant solicitors. They all stipulate defendant experience. How can i do it of no one will give me a chance.

9 years PQE (wtf, thought it was about 5 til I counted) £55k, Scotland. Do you have similar to this salary guide in eng?

mobile.frasiawright.com/salary-guide

Could use to negotiate up? It's a shame as starting on low salary really fucks you over long term. Might need to move in order to secure a big increase?

It would be £120k at some London firms for that PQE but that is not goingto be helpful for you to know. It may no be a growth area and in my view you have to keep moving in some jobs just to get higher pay and keep push push pushing year in year out asking for more and more pay and move if you don't get the rises.

Speak to a couple of reputable legal recruiters. No idea what the PI market is like now - but it's never been well paid.

Of course defendant side is much better paid. But was always on the low side.

Speak to a couple of reputable legal recruiters.

there arent any

There are. My daughter has a very good relationship with one. They even go out for lunch for a chat from time to time. She's found building that relationship every useful indeed.

The ones that take you to lunch arent neccessarily any good. Ive had the whole meet for coffee thing it means nothing.

One of the ones that was most helpful to me ive never met. But then he moved abroad so that was thatm

I am sure it can be pretty random. She now sees her as a friend and she did get her an £80k job! So something must have worked.

is retraining an option Niki? or is that an expensive luxury you can't afford....

Some absolutely brilliant legal recruiters out there!!

I don't think people quite realise how hard they work! Plus what has OP to lose anyway? She's on £32k!

Agree with others on not looking at what others were paid 20 years ago. I'm now the same PQE as a close friend was 10 years ago, am considered decently paid and am on significantly less than she was 10 years ago.