Salary Survey 2019

Sacco Mann are pleased to present our annual Salary Survey for 2019! Formulated through feedback from both our clients and our specialist consultants, our surveys provide a unique insight into the latest trends in salaries, employer benefits and bonuses within the legal community.

While it is clear to see from the salary figures that bandings continue to be quite wide across level of experience and qualification and also between international firms, niche commercial firms and smaller city and general practice firms, there are a number of other factors that may impact on this. 

While there isn’t always that much consistency in terms of which areas of practice offer the greatest salaries, the legal market definitely has an impact on the level of salary being received by lawyers. For instance, in those areas of practice where there is a shortage of quality candidates (such as Commercial Property, Corporate and niche areas such as Tax and Pensions), firms can definitely expect to pay more.  There are examples of some lawyers earning really well within personal law disciplines, but this is usually for those billing exceptionally well when supplemented by access to bonuses linked directly towards fee earning. 

We have seen a fairly even split between firms offering a bonus and those who don’t. We have also found that the majority of these continue to be non-contractual and linked to salary or individual or company performance, although a few firms have introduced contractual bonuses over the last year and some have also moved to a more balance objective based assessment. 

In regards to flexible working and working from home, this seems to have been an increasingly hot topic across HR departments over the past year, with many firms looking to introduce this on an adhoc basis, however we have seen examples of teams who just can’t sustain it due to the structure or type of work that they do. 

Enhanced maternity and paternity benefits were also noted more frequently this year, however firms usually link this to a minimum length of service with a form of repayment scheme in the event that a specified time period is not completed following leave.

To read through our survey and findings in more detail you can access the complete Salary Survey by clicking here.

If you would like to discuss our Salary Survey, get advice negotiating your salary with your current firm or for help recruiting, please get in contact with one of our consultants on either 0161 831 6890 or 0113 245 3338. Alternatively get in touch via email at recruit@saccomann.com.