Lawyer salaries

[EllaSW]

Hi folks

Twin sister is currently a commercial lawyer in PP. Works all hours, very stressed, wants to get out but too tired and busy to see the wood for the trees. Does anyone have any experience of what she could expect to earn in a good in-house job? She qualified 8 yrs ago at a "magic circle" firm and now works at a similar international firm. Has a great CV, ambitious etc. Her main worry about moving is the salary drop - the mortgage on her London flat is not cheap and she is currently single. I am trying to help so looking for info that might persuade her to look at her options. Thanks all.

She should talk to some recruitment agents that deal with in house recruitment. It is probably the only way to get an idea.

If she is willing to leave London and stay in private practice, she could have less stress and buy a cheaper property.

In-house commercial jobs can be in the region of £80,000 - 100,000. A lot are allowing remote working so she could look at non london based companies.

Thank you so much to you both for your responses - sounds like speaking with a recruiter is her next step.

Anyone else have any other experiences/views?

My BIL left London for Birmingham 3 years ago. He took a massive pay-cut (according to him) but he made so much on selling his house in London that he is mortgage free on a bigger house in Solihull and 9 to 5 is exactly that. The only drawback (again, according to him) is that once you leave you can't go back.

I work at a supposedly family friendly regional firm with similar experience level and make £85k. It’s not stress free but at least in my department people very rarely work weekends and there are plenty of days where I finish at 6 for nursery pick up. The culture is mostly nice too. This sort of firm might be an alternative to in house with the caveat that there are a few practice areas where the hours are still awful despite the lower pay (e.g litigation).

Partnership prospects are also better at this sort of firm in general (though partnership looks like very hard work).

We recruit people who mostly work remotely if there’s a business need.

It can sometimes be frustrating knowing that the lawyers on the other side of a deal doing essentially the same job as you are paid double (albeit that they probably work more hours). However, the house I live in would likely cost 3 x what it did if it was commutable to London so my lifestyle is probably better than a lot of London lawyers’.

Do you mean in-house as in working as GC for a large company? Depends on experience, but expect around £100-150k to start. Careful to pick company carefully GC for eg an investment bank swaps one toxic culture for another