How much do solicitors earn?

David Acorah

My son has landed a role with a city law firm. It's only an internship which can lead to a traineeship. What I would like to know is what kind of salary is he likely to start on if he succeeds in acquiring a traineeship and what will it rise to 5-10 years down the line?

Thank you

hullaballoo

There is no benchmark. It depends on the firm. It depends on the terms he is offered. It depends on his capability. It may also depend on the colour of his tie and length of his hair.

I don't mean to be crass, but realistically, there are no longer any legitimate expectations for trainee/newly-qualified/experienced lawyers!

LowKeyReturn

Anecdotal evidence from this forum and my own research is how long is a piece of string, I'm afraid.

Traineeship - He should be paid minimum wage but may be required to pay his own fees. There have been some rumours of firms actually charging for traineeships however lets assume its a reputable firm - expect min wage and fees paid. Top 5 firm could be as much as 40K a year even during traineeship.

PQE (Post Qualification) - recent thread here about a solicitor on 24K 1 - 3 years (IIRC) in, literally could be on anything from min wage - bazillions but I'd expect 35K range. Ten years in who knows, thats largely down to him, he could be a millionaire by that stage or working in Tescos.

Long story short; the legal profession is no guarantee to riches and is actually comparatively badly paid to, say, IT and in some cases even retail. If he's a passion for it he'll do well, at the very least he'll have a stimulating and interesting career. If he doesn't have a passion for it, abandon it now rather than in a few years when he's in debt and pissed off with it.

David Acorah

LowKeyReturn wrote: »

Anecdotal evidence from this forum and my own research is how long is a piece of string, I'm afraid.

Traineeship - He should be paid minimum wage but may be required to pay his own fees. There have been some rumours of firms actually charging for traineeships however lets assume its a reputable firm - expect min wage and fees paid. Top 5 firm could be as much as 40K a year even during traineeship.

PQE (Post Qualification) - recent thread here about a solicitor on 24K 1 - 3 years (IIRC) in, literally could be on anything from min wage - bazillions but I'd expect 35K range. Ten years in who knows, thats largely down to him, he could be a millionaire by that stage or working in Tescos.

Long story short; the legal profession is no guarantee to riches and is actually comparatively badly paid to, say, IT and in some cases even retail. If he's a passion for it he'll do well, at the very least he'll have a stimulating and interesting career. If he doesn't have a passion for it, abandon it now rather than in a few years when he's in debt and pissed off with it.

I was under the notion that being a solicitor had the potential to make you rich but this seems to no longer be the case.

LowKeyReturn

Oh and at least he's not bonkers enough to go down the barrister route :P

NoQuarter

David Acorah wrote: »

I was under the notion that being a solicitor had the potential to make you rich but this seems to no longer be the case.

David, welcome to the real world!

If you told us the firm we could direct you more. Is it a top 5 firm, a mid-tier firm or one of the many many others?

If your son landed a position he will be easily able to answer that question.

Pro Hoc Vice

David Acorah wrote: »

I was under the notion that being a solicitor had the potential to make you rich but this seems to no longer be the case.

Like any business law has the potential to make a person rich/very good income. But like any profession there are lots of people on standard income. It's up to your son to decide where he ends up.

David Acorah

It's not with the top 5.

NoQuarter

David Acorah wrote: »

It's not with the top 5.

Is it with a mid tier commercial firm or just a small solicitor on the corner of a street doing family law and criminal law etc?

johnnyskeleton

I assume since you said "a city firm" you mean London, in which case try boards.co.uk if it still exists.

234

I assumed the same re "city firm", though rollonfriday.co.uk would be my suggestion.

Cody Pomeray

NoQuarter wrote: »

Is it with a mid tier commercial firm or just a small solicitor on the corner of a street doing family law and criminal law etc?

:pac:

If that's what he means by city firm, he should be teaching Creative CV Writing.


In all seriousness OP, there are some city firms outside the magic circle who pay just as well, possibly even better than the big guys. I don't know. Does your son not have an idea himself? He should ask to chat to some current employees, perhaps.

LowKeyReturn

The UK (London especially) is a completely different animal. I know two solicitors who have recently started work there. One has a law degree from Cambridge started on £19K - although to be fair she ramped up quickly enough. Another guy with a bio-tech background of some description wandered (as he tells the story) into a recruitment session after some advert and was snapped up for in excess of £50K while they trained him form the ground up to eventually become a very well paid IP lawyer.

NoQuarter

Guys, something tells me when he says city firm we are not talking about London here (even though that is what I would also think) but rather, he is from the shticks and is talking about a Dublin city firm.

David Acorah

NoQuarter wrote: »

Guys, something tells me when he says city firm we are not talking about London here (even though that is what I would also think) but rather, he is from the shticks and is talking about a Dublin city firm.

That's news to me NoQuarter, I didn't know we were apart of the UK.

NoQuarter

David Acorah wrote: »

That's news to me NoQuarter, I didn't know we were apart of the UK.

You must have missed the memo, David!

johnnyskeleton

David Acorah wrote: »

That's news to me NoQuarter, I didn't know we were apart of the UK.

I remember the days when trolls used to be funny.

LegalEagleCork

In this climate its almost outrageous to expect payment in law starting out. That's not the way I think it should be, I think your son should be paid but law has gotten really tough for young people starting out. I think the advantage of a traineeship for your son is not income but the traineeship itself, the qualification which would hopefully lead to something down the road. Its a long term investment and a good opportunity.

Its an employers market and as other posters mentioned, its highly likely that in this climate people would pay for training. I am consistently baffled by the inordinately high expectations of employers in law in Ireland in relation to what is essentially voluntary work, even volunteering is wildly competitive now, I understand the citizens info office have waiting lists for volunteer training. I have tried to volunteer on many occasions but haven't gotten a call back! I recently read an advert for a certain ngo, the ad required a degree in law, a masters, a specialisation/expertise in the relevant area AND 2 years experience. . How much were they offering? Nothing. A masters alone costs 7k plus subsistence for one year..that's just the masters year, if you didn't have a grant and had to pay for accommodation during your degree, the costs incurred are serious. But "employers" /internship providers in law seem ruthless with zero cognizance of financial realities.

To me the whole situation screams exploitation, young people in law essentially padding the wallets of highly paid executives who I suspect aren't half as well educated as the people they're interviewing. . . Padding their wallets or saving them from destitution, Im not sure!

Dubflier

How much does a solicitor earn ha
Well pick a figure then double it, then treble it and then half it, cos that usually what they do to their clients with costs. The problem your lad has he will be more than likely on buttons because the greed is at the top.

Pat Mustard

Dubflier wrote: »

How much does a solicitor earn ha
Well pick a figure then double it, then treble it and then half it, cos that usually what they do to their clients with costs. The problem your lad has he will be more than likely on buttons because the greed is at the top.

I just followed your advice. That's extremely interesting and helpful.

johnnyskeleton

Dubflier wrote: »

Well pick a figure then double it, then treble it and then half it, cos that usually what they do to their clients with costs.

Why not just treble the figure?

hullaballoo

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

I remember the days when trolls used to be funny.

You actually remember that?! It's so long ago though.

Once bubbles left, that was it. Trolls just became annoying and minus funny.

johnnyskeleton

hullaballoo wrote: »

You actually remember that?! It's so long ago though.

Once bubbles left, that was it. Trolls just became annoying and minus funny.

Pighead was good too, as I recall.

LowKeyReturn

That guy who did the entire monologue about him and his man training in the park was awesome. I particularly enjoyed the way he tried to get it going in here and was out trolled by the 'locals'.

hullaballoo

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

Pighead was good too, as I recall.

I wouldn't have classified Pighead as a troll though. He's a funny fukker and he was brilliant whenever he had access to the Prison forum. Those were heady days.

Dubflier

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

Why not just treble the figure?

Yes of course just treble it, I assume a call to the law library may get the op a better answer to their query.

johnnyskeleton

Dubflier wrote: »

Yes of course just treble it, I assume a call to the law library may get the op a better answer to their query.

No, if you double something, treble it and then half it its the same as just trebling it. It's basic maths...

JustAThought

Im shocked at the greed of law firms asking people to work for them for free : (

I doubt it will be a soft easy ride, thou that is one of the very few " internships" worth doing. I hope they won't be expecting to try before they buy for long, before deciding to offer him a traineeship. & I sincerely don't hope they have two or three " interns" trying to compete with each other for 1 traineeship. Disgusting practice ; slave labour expectations.

There is an annual earnings index for different markets that used be researched by one of the big irish recruitment firms -sorry I forget exactly which one. Might be worth a google. It might not be realistic as most people tend to over state what they earn but it would give an indication - they used do it region by region so that the Dublin costs didn't unbalance the overall picture.

My friend worked in law in the UK & they ( specialised UK recruitment consultants ) were extremely helpful to her as she had no benchmark at all -even got her jobs -they seem well ahead over there with looking after their customers/clients needs -unlike RC here.

I know Two highly qualified but can't get work solicitors here, and two barristers . & saw an ad for a careers advice manager with the law library -to help give advice on alternative careers to law to their students a while back. Scarey stuff.

Mind you ; the last legal bill " I " paid was at e350 + per hour ( no decimal point there) -and that was for "advice" ( no court case involved). And I seem to recall eye-watering " administration & photocopying" charges ( interns beware) being tacked onto that at a shocking rate that I refused to pay. No recession there.

Dubflier

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

No, if you double something, treble it and then half it its the same as just trebling it. It's basic maths...

Yes I fully understand the maths of the equation thats why I said you are correct just treble it.

johnnyskeleton

Dubflier wrote: »

Yes I fully understand the maths of the equation thats why I said you are correct just treble it.

You went on to make a cryptic allusion to the law library, which is what threw me.

Dubflier

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

You went on to make a cryptic allusion to the law library, which is what threw me.

No worries, but I thought the law library would be worth putting a call into by the OP as I thought part of their remit is to over see how the profession conducts its business. There seems to be a lot of greed and arrogance at the upper levels and I would say you could get rode very easy if you let it happen.

NoQuarter

Dubflier wrote: »

No worries, but I thought the law library would be worth putting a call into by the OP as I thought part of their remit is to over see how the profession conducts its business. There seems to be a lot of greed and arrogance at the upper levels and I would say you could get rode very easy if you let it happen.

Law Library has nothing to do with solicitors in general, never mind how much they earn.

Pro Hoc Vice

Dubflier wrote: »

No worries, but I thought the law library would be worth putting a call into by the OP as I thought part of their remit is to over see how the profession conducts its business. There seems to be a lot of greed and arrogance at the upper levels and I would say you could get rode very easy if you let it happen.

It was the late 1800's that the Kings Inns lost control of the Solicitors profession, who are since then controlled by the Law Society. Barristers are educated by Kings Inns and the Law Library provides library and ancillary services to barristers, the Bar Council sets the rules of the barristers profession.

Dubflier

infosys wrote: »

It was the late 1800's that the Kings Inns lost control of the Solicitors profession, who are since then controlled by the Law Society. Barristers are educated by Kings Inns and the Law Library provides library and ancillary services to barristers, the Bar Council sets the rules of the barristers profession.

Well then I'm only 100 plus years out, should the op contact the Law Society for the information they are seeking. Surely there are guide lines set out in regard to pay scale based on levels of training and experience.

Pro Hoc Vice

Dubflier wrote: »

Well then I'm only 100 plus years out, should the op contact the Law Society for the information they are seeking. Surely there are guide lines set out in regard to pay scale based on levels of training and experience.

They maybe able to help.