Career change to barrister (civil, employment, professional negligence etc) - likely earnings?

[Anotheranxiousone]

Hi all

I'm considering a ‘career change’ (I say this loosely as o already work in law but not as a barrister) to a barrister. This is for personal and professional reasons - my current job is primarily legal research and whilst I’ve enjoyed it, I miss the tangible problem solving, seeing results etc that you get in practice. I’m used to working independently and flexibly and don’t think working in a corporate office environment would suit my skills, hence looking at the bar not solicitors firms.

My main interests are around discrimination, inequality, disputes etc so I’m leaning towards civil practice in these areas but would also be interested in broader civil, public and commercial practice.

It is easy enough to see what earnings would likely be in a top chambers in London but what about other cities in the north (Leeds, Manchester etc) I have a mortgage and kids to support and need to be realistic about income to assess whether this is viable.

So, assuming I can get Pupillage and convert to practice at the bar, what could I reasonably expect to earn a few years into the job working in these practice areas in a northern city?

Thanks!

There is a lot of information collated and published on this if you google - some of it is focused on the pay gap, but this report shows some information about regional earnings: https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/static/1ee64764-cd34-4817-80174ca6304f1ac0/Income-at-the-Bar-by-Gender-and-Ethnicity-Final.pdf
There is probably a lot more useful stuff if you look at the Bar Standards Board pages and the Bar Council - possibly on Chambers online also?

Thanks for replying! I have looked at these reports but it’s not really granular enough to answer my questions. Clearly more people earn higher salaries in London, and commercial more than public/criminal, but I still don’t know what a reasonable expectation would be for mixed civil/commercial in a good chambers in a northern city 🤔

Your best bet is to make friends with the clerks in the sort of chambers you'd be interested in joining. They will know exactly what revenue is coming in and where it is going (which practice areas and how experienced those people are etc). I expect it varies significantly, so you may get a 'how long's a piece of string' type response, but the clerks will be the ones who know. I was a solicitor in a largely non-contentious area, so I don't have any contacts that would be useful to you, nor any suggestions of where you might find some, but you could try posting on a busier forum (maybe Chat?) to ask barristers for help.

I agree with the suggestion to speak to chambers. Also go along to events and info sessions. I've heard a chambers CEO speak openly about the likely earning over years 1-3 at one of these (it was a London specialist set so not of relevance here).

Thanks both that’s really good advice!