Legal Salary Survey

This year’s Salary Survey (2022/2023) has been one of the most challenging that we have compiled. Salaries are incredibly competitive, and many firms are not being particularly forthcoming about their bandings.

We have noticed, particularly within the commercial firms where there have been significant increases in the NQ salaries, that there is ‘salary compression’. The differentials between NQ’s and other lawyers seem to have narrowed on a lot of occasions. We often find ourselves speaking to more experienced lawyers who are feeling a little short-changed as these differentials narrow; it will be interesting to see if this rectifies itself. It’s hard to see how this can be achieved this year without firms reviewing the salary increases they have already awarded, a significant challenge for many.

Another major change this year has been the attitude to home and flexible working, something that was already of increasing importance to many lawyers and has been driven forward by the pandemic. With many firms achieving incredibly successful results in their last financial year there is certainly evidence that this can work really effectively, it will be interesting to observe how this plays out when more people are back in the office. Everyone homeworking creates a very different environment to hybrid working and we are constantly speaking with firms who are working hard to navigate this. 

Do feel free to contact us if you want to discuss any of the information within this survey, we are always happy to talk about our observations on the market. 

Click here to download our Legal Salary Survey 2024.