Lawyers’ salaries in London are highlighting massive pay gaps throughout the UK.
New data released by BCL Legal Recruitment has highlighted the vast differences between London and other regions, as well as the salaries most lawyers can expect to earn during different stages of their career.
London’s exceptionally high salaries and impressive annual pay rises are currently overshadowing the rest of the country, with newly qualified commercial lawyers practising in London earning on average £65,000 a year and receiving year on year pay rises of approximately £5,000.
On average, this salary increases to £85,000 by their fourth year of experience and to £95,000 after six years of working, with an additional £25,000 pay rise to £120,000 if promoted to Junior Partner status.
However, throughout other UK regions the pay gap is apparent. A commercial junior partner in the North East, the UK’s lowest paid region for lawyer services, can today expect to earn £80,000.
Furthermore, a newly qualified commercial lawyer in the North West, one of the UK’s best-paid regions for legal practitioners outside of London, can earn on average £39,000 per annum, up from £35,000 in 2013.
Despite this increase, the 2016 North West average wage for newly qualified lawyers is still £14,000 less than what a London-based newcomer would’ve earned in 2013.
James Batt, Managing Director at BCL Legal Recruitment, says: “There is a clear difference in a salary that we can see between London-based commercial firms and those in the regions.
“This is due to charge out rates and billable hours expectations being a lot higher combined with London weighting.
“High salaries definitely help attract the best talent to London but as we know salary is not the only motivator when looking for a new role.”
To download the BCL Legal Report, click here.