Low salaries in Australia? (1 Viewer)

[turtleface]

Do you think big law firm solicitors are being bummed in Australia?

I mean, as omnidragon said in the other post you can probably expect 45,000-55,000 as a graduate clerk, but in the U.S., at a top firm, a graduate is looking at the 250-350,000 USD (U.S. dollars) range (as well as a BIG bonus, and a BIG signon bonus, so it could be anything like even 400K USD first year out.

Yes the cost of living is higher, and I think the real FX rate is different, but if you compare something like Accounting where its like 50-60K USD compared to 40-50K AUD, you can see there isn't that same differential.

(I'm talking about top firms here of course)

(of course, graduate salaries don't mean much, but it still is interesting)

Do people know why?

 

[phrred]

I highly doubt a grad in a top firm in the US will earn 250-300k

 

[MoonlightSonata]

I suggest people source their figures..

 

[Frigid]

UK Firm Salaries on RollonFridayhttp://www.rollonfriday.com/insideinfo_city.htm

NQ = newly qualified, after 2 yrs on training contract.
1PQE = one year after qualification
etc.

 

[turtleface]

sorry I can't source, its just what one of the lecturers was telling us when someone asked him why he didn't practice law anymore. He was from the U.S. firm I think and was a Senior Associate or something, at Skadden Arps something something.

I dunno, I assumed it was true cause he'd have no reason to lie, but he's new to Australia and seemed like a FOB, so he must of kept up to date with developments at his firm

 

[poloboy]

yay, my first post

my guess would be that it has something to do with the amount of debt that law students in the US get into just to become lawyers ... I haven't looked it up, but I'm sure you could find out just how many thousands of dollars it can cost to study at grad school over there (remember, they have to do a "general" undergrad before being able to go to "law school" and there is no such thing as HECS!) - i think i remember hearing that it can run into the hundreds of thousands.

So if you consider the amount of years they study to become lawyers + the large amount of debt they have to pay off + the fact that they would be a fair bit older than your average law grad in Australia, these factors probably go some way to explaining the big salaries.

Of course, supply and demand would also be a big factor, as would the fact that law firms need to offer competitive salaries to attract the best graduates...

 

[Not-That-Bright]

Er yea... If I make 40-50,000 my first year out of study, I'll be quite happy.

As for law in the US it is a graduate-only field of study, so chances are there's less law students overall in the US.

 

[turtleface]

oh yeah definately. Thats pretty good in Aus, and will go a long way towards HECs. And its much better than Pharmacy and Arts grads (no offence, I know grad salaries count for nothing in a few years time), who are like stuck on like 30s.

 

[MoonlightSonata]

The top of the top solicitors in law firms:

Million-dollar partners in Sydney
20 July 2006

SYDNEY’S TOP-tier partners topped the million dollar mark for the first time this year, as the gap between their remuneration and that of their counterparts in other Australian cities widened even further.

While Sydney partners bagged an average $1,015,000, in Melbourne, average top-tier partner earnings lagged at $896,000. Partner remuneration in Sydney and Melbourne significantly towered over those in small firms, which was a more stately $432,000 in Sydney and $340,000 in Melbourne.

The figures were published in Mahlab’s Recruitment Salary Survey 2006, released last Friday as the first salary survey of the financial year.

Overall, New South Wales lawyers had the lowest salary increases in the country – a 7 per cent rise on last year, while the largest increases were enjoyed by Victorians, at 8.3 per cent, and Queensland and South Australia at 8 per cent on average. Across the nation, the salary increases showed as the lowest average increases in the past six years.

Lawyers in Sydney still had the highest salaries in the land, however, with top-tier firms offering their first year lawyers $68,000 on average, compared to an average of $63,500 in Melbourne. Lawyers of 10 years or more seniority commanded salaries of $200,000 on average in NSW’s capital, while in Victoria’s they had to be content with $170,000.

Across the board, the 8 per cent increase in pay of financial 2006 was the same as that of 2005, and both marked the lowest average increases in the last six years. Salary bands meanwhile increased by only 4.5 per cent.

Rather, many firms underlined their commitment to high achievers by offering better bonuses. Thirty-three per cent of lawyers at private firms surveyed by Mahlab are receiving discretionary performance-based bonuses, making such benefits more prevalent than previous years.

The Mahlab survey also noted that some lawyers returning from overseas and lateral recruits practising in sought-after areas had triggered a “bidding war” between firms which was putting pressure on salaries. Sign-on bonuses were increasingly used as a counterattack by firms to keep a lid on salaries in this environment while enabling firms to offer lawyers an incentive to join.

Other benefits were offered by employers to encourage talent retention. Mobile phones were offered to 32 per cent and laptops to 22 per cent of lawyers surveyed, while 32 per cent had been offered the chance for secondment within Australia. Thirty-seven per cent of lawyers had been offered paid study leave, and 33 per cent full fee reimbursement for studying.

The trend of rewarding the highest achievers was continued. Overall, top tier partner earnings rose by 7-8 per cent since last year, while those at mid and low-tier levels rose 8 per cent. At firms with performance-based partnership remuneration, the highest-billing partners were claiming salaries of as much as two thirds more than their lowest-performing colleagues.

- Lawyers Weekly

 

[phrred]

oh yeah definately. Thats pretty good in Aus, and will go a long way towards HECs. And its much better than Pharmacy and Arts grads (no offence, I know grad salaries count for nothing in a few years time), who are like stuck on like 30s.

How is Pharmacy shit?
Doesnt an average pharmacy grad earn over 50+

 

[Omnidragon]

$63k average might mean $80k for the top person? I'm very surprised.

It's nothing like what my friends (with offers) tell me, or what I would imagine having seen some of the seasonal contracts myself.

Maybe it's b/c we're not top students.

But I do know one guy who has topped, on more than one occassion, very important subjects. He got a pretty ordinary figure for seasonals, nothing that would have made me believe the average grad figure for top students was 63k...

I've only considered 'Big 6' (is that what they really call it, turtleface?) and Baker's.

 

[Frigid]

I've only considered 'Big 6' (is that what they really call it, turtleface?) and Baker's.

thats what they call it, although you may also want to look outside the big 6, and at mid-tier firms. haha, maybe Corrs?

 

[turtleface]

How is Pharmacy shit?
Doesnt an average pharmacy grad earn over 50+

Dunno about NSW, but in Victoria, its about 29K average for grads last time I checked.

But of course, Grad salaries don't mean much in the scope of a career