It seems almost as if the sky-high salaries of junior associates at top law firms has a permanent place in the news headlines - with magic circle law firms offering junior associates starting salaries upwards of £120,000 per year.
However, it's worth noting that these starting salaries are part of a bubble - at the very top of the bubble even - that's come about as a result of a bidding war for young legal talent. Magic circle and top tier City based law firms are bidding against each other for fresh talent, and they're also attempting to compete with US law firms that are known to pay around £180,000 per year plus bonuses.
The real average lawyer salary UK applicants should expect is considerably lower, and depends on your practice area, location and experience.
The average solicitor salary in the UK for a lawyer working full time in private practice is £62,000 annually, according to the .
However, it's worth bearing in mind that the average solicitor salaries also differ greatly depending on where you're based. For instance, a lawyer salary in Greater London sits at £88,000, while an average lawyer salary in the north of England is £43,000.
Another key factor when looking at salaries is practice area. For instance, the junior or newly qualified lawyers making upwards of £120,000 at top tier law firms are most likely experts in corporate law or commercial law. Mid sized law firms will pay corporate or commercial lawyers approximately £70k.
Criminal law, on the other hand, seems to have a permanent place in the news headlines for the opposite reason - the practice area pays shockingly low salaries. New research by legal recruitment and search consultancy, , found the average corporate lawyer salary of a newly-qualified lawyer has gone up four times higher than their criminal counterparts. Even at some of the best criminal law firms in London, the average criminal lawyer salary still sits at between £35,000 and £50,000 per year.
These two examples capture two extremities of the UK's legal jobs market in private practice - with other practice areas of the law slotting somewhere in between. However, another commonly sought after career path for lawyers is through in-house legal counsel jobs. According to , the average annual salary for in-house legal counsel is £93,536 per year.
Average annual salaries for lawyers also depends massively on their position. The legal profession is notoriously hierarchical, with the partner track being one of the most competitive career paths in the world for those in private practice.
An equity partner at a law firm averages around £130,000, which of course omits the profits these lawyers benefit from alongside salaries.
A salaried partner - which is becoming more and more common, especially with US firms - gives lawyers the chance to have partner status but without benefitting from the equity of the firm. The average salary of a salaried partner is £75,000.
For associate solicitors, the average salary is £65,000, almost half of the headline-inducing salaries of the top tier firms.
recommends paying trainee solicitors that have yet to qualify £23,703 in London and £21,024 outside London. However, at larger law firms this is more likely to sit at around £50,000 for the first year and £55,000 for the second year.
The average barrister salary in the UK is £89,200 gross per year, according to . They also average bonus payments of £4,900 per year and profit sharing incomes of £1,870 per year.
To summarise:
Average solicitor salary UK: £62,000
Average in-house solicitor salary UK: £93,536
Solicitor salary by location:
Solicitor salary by seniority:
Trainee solicitor: £23,000 - £60,000
Barrister salary: £89,200
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