You have3 free articles left this month.
Register for a free account to access unlimited free content.
You have 3 free articles left this month.
Register for a free account to access unlimited free content.

Lawyers Weekly - legal news for Australian lawyers

Powered by MOMENTUM MEDIA
lawyers weekly logo

Powered by MOMENTUM MEDIA

Goodbye job applications, hello dream career
Seize control of your career and design the future you deserve with LW career

2019 earnings: What lawyers were worth and what this means for 2020

The average salaries of lawyers at all levels and across many practice areas increased exponentially in 2019, with further growth predicted for 2020.

user iconNaomi Neilson 16 January 2020 Big Law
2019 earnings
expand image

According to Beacon Legal’s Private Practice Salary and Market Report 2020, lawyers experienced “record-level” salaries, particularly in the areas of litigation, public M&A’s, construction and banking. The firm predicts 2020 will be a “great year” for solicitors to seek a new role and achieve further growth in their salary brackets.

However, this means law firms will see tougher competition in securing talent as there are more opportunities – and higher signing bonuses – offered across the profession.

“Demand for 3-6 PQE lawyers should outstrip supply and cause a price war,” Beacon Legal noted. “With a number of firms offering high salaries, even at a junior level, this forces the hand of other firms to do the same or risk missing out on candidates.

“Our clients have reported work pipelines going into 2020 which will continue to create job opportunities for lawyers to move laterally. As a candidate, we predict 2020 will be a great year to find a new role and achieve salary growth.”

Salaries hit record high as Sydney remains on top for growth
The “record-level” salaries saw special counsel in construction earn an average of a $300,000 salary, plus a $10,000 signing bonus. Litigation lawyers with the level 9 PQE earnt $220,000, construction litigation at 7 PQE earnt $190,000 and project finance at 5 PQE hit $160,000. The lowest record level saw litigation at 2 PQE earn $120,000.

Beacon Legal noted public M&A lawyers achieved “outstanding” salary offers, with the 3 PQE lawyer being offered $145,000 in Sydney.

Lawyers moving between firms can expect lateral salary increases of between 10 per cent and 25 per cent depending on their level of seniority.

Based on location, Sydney still led the pack with mid-tier firm lawyers earning between $70,000 for PQE 1 and $170,000 for PQE 9. At top-tier firms this increased to standing between $80,000 for level 1 and over $190,000 for level 9.

Melbourne’s mid-tier firm offerings were anywhere between $70,000 to $165,000, and its top-tier sat between $70,000 and $170,000. Similarly, Brisbane’s mid-tier reported an average of $65,000 up to $155,000 and top-tier between $75,000 and $160,000.

Sign-on bonuses improve competition within legal profession
Bonuses increased too, both in dollar value and in percentage of the firms which have paid bonuses. Beacon Legal said more lawyers are requesting bonus information from firms more regularly at offer stage and firms are competing to offer.

Top-tier firms are more generally operating on bonus schemes of up to 25 per cent of salaries, based on individual and firm performance.

“Sign-on bonuses are now commonplace and are usually between $5,000-$10,000. We expect this trend to continue into 2020,” Beacon Legal added.

“The main driver for firms to offer this sign-on bonus is when a candidate has multiple job offers. This is an area where Beacon Legal can add significant financial value to our candidate as we are highly experienced at achieving successful negotiations.”

The areas of law paying the highest
Recruitment in top-tier and large international firms improved steadily, with most of the demand being in litigation. There was also a demand for lawyers specialising within a technology, media and telecommunications practice area and in banking, while those practicing in M&A private exclusively felt a drop compared to recent years.

“The market demand for litigators has grown significantly over the past year,” Beacon Legal said. “Recruitment has remained constantly high. This is a trend we expect will continue in 2020, with a number of firms establishing ongoing recruitment drives.

“The main drivers have been the banking royal commission, increased regulation in financial services and the banks requiring more legal services than ever before.”

The final quarter of 2019 was noticeably busier within M&A, despite starting off slower than previous years, and Beacon Legal anticipates that this will continue. Lawyers with public M&A, IPO and ECM experience should expect higher demand in 2020.

Candidates with banking and financial services regulatory experience had higher than average demand, as did the market for TMT lawyers. The commercial property market was relatively slow in 2019 but demand in construction and infrastructure will be high.

Beacon Legal said demand for corporate lawyers remained steady over the course of 2019. However, with less demand in London due to Brexit, less Australians took jobs in the UK, which created fewer job vacancies domestically.

naomi.neilson@momentummedia.com.au

Naomi Neilson

Naomi Neilson

Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly. 

You can email Naomi at: naomi.neilson@momentummedia.com.au

Tags
Comments (10)
  • Avatar
    wondering what a commercial (contracts specialist) lawyers hourly rate would be with 10 + years experience?
    0
  • Avatar
    Most solicitor starting salaries are basically zero- you're expected to work for free, and the most you can expect after five years experience is a top salary of about $15k a year (inc super). This is well before the virus. Then there were the people in Adelaide asking you to pay them 11k a year to employ you - and then they take half of whatever work you manage to find anyway (which would be zero normally). Law is a dead industry only run for the benefit of law deans, professors and 'practical training course' providers (lol). Shut it down.
    -1
  • Avatar
    I got offered $150k for a fin services role in house and am only 2 years PQE - they need to move away from PQE as it is not an accurate reflection of competency in most cases. I've worked with several 'senior' lawyers who had time under the belt but were hopeless operators and lack critical thinking abilities. There are things immeasurable beyond a certificate or time in a job.
    3
  • Avatar
    If you can get $120k at PQE 2 and $145k at PQE 3, you must be damn good. Top tier lawyers with double the PQE are getting the same pay.
    1
  • Avatar
    Unless you are a grad at Ashurst in which case you get paid less than minimum wage according to today's AFR. Noone believes this article LW, please fact check your sources info against Hays salary report or other credible source.
    2
  • Avatar
    Not true - firms are offering 90k for 3-5 year lawyers. What a joke
    3
    • Avatar
      I make 100k package in a workplace relations role and I haven’t even finished PLT. I really want to be an employment lawyer and a recruiter said this would easily be done however I’d be looking at dropping to $80k...
      0
  • Avatar
    Another amazing survey showing really high salaries and wage growth and encouraging people to move from their current employment. Oh wait, this survey was done by a recruitment agency based in Melbourne and Sydney. These figures do not reflect the legal landscape. There are more lawyers than jobs in play, profits and work can be unpredictable in certain sectors (especially banking and construction that was mentioned in the article) and moving from your current position is potentially financial and career suicide. It may be exciting, you may get a salary bump and the grass may appear greener but you are now on 6 months probation and if it doesn't work out because of a personality clash, your clients did not come with you, downturn in work or your partner's drawings then guess what? You are gone, without a job (no reason needs to be given) and still having to pay for ridiculous Sydney rents or mortgage payments. The pre-GFC days when people could move and get a promotion and salary increase and hit budgets by turning up are long gone. Bosses these days value loyalty, ROI and not CV hoppers and employees value stability.
    11
  • Avatar
    BTW, if you are intending on moving, target the firm you want and contact them directly. Why? Think like a boss: if you have 2 candidates on the table with similar skillsets and the same asking base salary of $200,000 and one has a recruiter and one does not. Would you choose the person that will cost your firm a 20% recruitment fee based on salary and super total of $65,000 (approx.) payable on signing with a store credit of 6 months if that person leaves or doesn't work out. Let me put that into perspective by using the beer economy - that recruiter fee equates to 1,200 cartons of premium beer. Or think from the candidate's perspective and the potential Shylock consequence, the recruiter's candidate has cost more which means they will now need to produce and recover fees in their first year of $795,000 (roughly 3 times base salary and recruitment fee) and the non-recruiter candidate will only need to produce and recover $600,000 of fees in Year 1. This is oversimplified figures but you get the point.
    9
  • Avatar
    This doesn't seem to match salary reports by other agencies
    2
Avatar
Attach images by dragging & dropping or by selecting them.
The maximum file size for uploads is MB. Only files are allowed.
 
The maximum number of 3 allowed files to upload has been reached. If you want to upload more files you have to delete one of the existing uploaded files first.
The maximum number of 3 allowed files to upload has been reached. If you want to upload more files you have to delete one of the existing uploaded files first.
Posting as
You need to be a member to post comments. Become a member for free today!