Legal industry news, trends and reflections (June 2024)
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As well as our monthly?LinkedIn newsletter?dedicated to summarising a few topical legal current affairs each month, we're now also publishing monthly?reflections on legal industry news and developments (via this same newsletter, as well as our free blog).
These reflections are offered by?Luke Mitchinson, who worked for years as a transactional lawyer at both a Magic Circle and an elite US law firm, before quitting City law to work as a headhunter. He now helps lawyers from NQs through to partners secure roles at a broad range of commercial law firms.
Today's newsletter covers pay rises, partner earnings, disputes, football analogies, and more.?But first...
1. Brand ambassadors
OUR 2024/25 BRAND AMBASSADOR PROGRAMME IS NOW LIVE!
We’re looking to recruit highly motivated, articulate brand ambassadors who want to become an integral part of our team throughout the next academic year.
We’re looking for people who want to be part of a growing start-up, with the potential to have a significant impact on others’ career journeys.
People who have a creative streak, and the drive to make things happen.
People who love brainstorming ideas, get excited about putting those ideas into practice, and have the confidence to offer honest feedback on an ongoing basis.
And above all, people who are passionate about legal careers and marketing.
The deadline is midnight on 28 July 2024. We’re recruiting on a rolling basis, capping it at 25-35 ambassadors for this year, so please get your application in as soon as possible if you’re genuinely interested in applying. We’re looking forward to hearing from you!
2. University society partnerships
Last year, we worked with dozens of leading law and commercial awareness-related societies from a broad range of UK and European universities.
Their members benefitted from access to a comprehensive range of free expert-led resources and career support, including best-selling books, critically-acclaimed courses, and more.
We're now looking to set up our 2024/25 society partnerships, so if you're on an exec committee, please email me via [email protected]?(or drop me a LinkedIn message) so that I can send over the details of what we're offering.
If you know someone else who's on an exec, please tag them in this post to help spread the word!?
Legal industry news, trends and reflections from June 2024
Please note that these articles do not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon. They simply reflect the author's research and opinion, and do not represent the views of Varo Partners Limited.
Over to you Luke...
How much do law firm partners earn?
29 June 2024
?? BIG BIG MONEY ?? Look, this headline is definitely, in large, clickbait.
Mainly because the overwhelming majority of the Partners getting the coveted $20m/year pay packet are in the US. HOWEVER, following a couple of recent marque moves between Kirkland, Paul Weiss, and Simpson Thacher, there are a handful of lawyers in London (subject to performance metrics being met) that are part of this elite group of lawyers / rainmakers.
The crux of this article though is that firms are starting to see NYC and London as a single market, which is being reflected in pay - both at associate level, where, for a long time now US and London based associates are paid the same, and increasingly now, at the Partner level. My eagle-eyed readers will remember me making this very point a few weeks ago btw ??.
For those unwilling to click through to read this article in full, here is a great paragraph:
"The comp stretch will require genuine buy-in from UK partners and will unsettle many, but it’s the logical endpoint of the top UK firms’ US strategies. But it also has strategic consequences for firms even at the upper end of the mid-market. Those firms can forget any serious Stateside ambitions unless the UK firm in question fancies being taken over, restructured, and its culture pummelled. So we had better get used to multiple connotations of what globalisation represents to commercial firms. For most of the City mid-tier it will mean Europe, with a sprinkle of Singapore, Dubai and Riyadh. For the big UK players, adopting the galactico bracket will mean black-box remuneration and a dirigiste management. That’s some cultural shift."
Law firm specialisms, represented as a football squad!?
28 June 2024
Ahead of England's final group game tonight, I've come up with my Law Firm starting XI.
The Manager is of course the SRA.
In goal we've got Slaughter & May - the ultimate safe pair of hands.
In defence we've got four powerhouses of litigation. Who better to defend our goal (i.e. clients) than Clifford Chance, Herbert Smith, Quinn Emanuel and A&O Shearman. I know what you're thinking; will HSF and Quinn be able to work together in the middle? Well, they've been co-counsel many times before so I think we should be safe.
Sitting in front of the back four, we've got Linklaters and Freshfields. Both just as good on the defensive side of the game as they are on the attacking side (i.e. corporate). They're also both extremely good at feeding into Latham ??
The attacking four consists of Latham through the middle, Travers and Macfarlanes on the wings, with Kirkland up front as the lone striker. As with Links and Freshfields, Travers and Macs are also very good at feeding into Latham and Kirkland, whilst also being known for their own skills on the ball. As per a recent FT article that referred to Latham as having 'conquered the City', Latham will be looking to call the shots and dictate play. Kirkland up top as the lone striker is where they're comfortable. They've got the size and strength (i.e. PEP), and arguably there's no one you'd (i.e. global PE funds) trust more to put the ball in the back of the net (i.e. get the deal over the line) when people are tired and the pressure is mounting after a long tournament (i.e. deal timeline).
Now, there's a lot of talent and ego here, so there's a lot of pressure on the Manager to ensure these 11 play as a team - no easy feat of course. But above all else, please pray that it doesn't go to penalties!
How long does it take to make partner??
12 June 2024
领英推荐
Here are the results of an anonymous poll, where people voted on how long it takes to make partner at their firms.?
Hogan Lovells raises NQ pay by ￡15,000
11 June 2024
?? Hogan Lovells enters the chat ??
The London salary war continues to burn well as Hogan Lovells has just upped its NQ pay by ￡15,000 to ￡135,000 - surpassing the last remaining Magic Circle firm (Slaughters), who have opted to keep its NQs on ￡125,000. It's a great move in a lot of respects from HL as it:
The vital question of to what extent these rises have been made equal all the way up the PQE ladder will of course be an extremely important one, especially as the four MC firms that made the rise to ￡150,000 at NQ matched the ￡25k bump all the way up ladder. Stay tuned for updates on this.
Slaughters - arguably above all other firms - are now going to come under even more pressure to raise its associate salaries, as will a host of other firms of course. I can't imagine this will be my last post related to salary increases in June - and potentially not even this week!
Manchester City legal battle: Freshfields v Slaughter and May
10 June 2024
? Man City Vs The Premier League aka Freshfields Vs Slaughters ?
In a rare post, I get to talk about my two core passions in life: football and law firms.
For all those who don't share my footballing passion, Manchester City has long been battling the Premier League over various matters related to the club’s [over] spending. Man City are now separately set to challenge the Premier League’s rules (note: its general rules, rather than its financial rules of which Man City are accused of breaking over 100 times) in a three-member arbitration, set to kick off on Monday.?
The arbitration comes ahead of a?separate trial between the pair?this Autumn in which the Premier League is bringing 115 charges against Man City. If found guilty, the punishment for Man City could be huge, with the possibility that Man City, which has been crowned Premier League champions for the past four seasons (including 'The Treble' last year), could be relegated from the Premier League, and potentially have previous titles taken away from them - and in some cases awarded to the mighty Liverpool FC, creating an even stronger legacy for Sir Jürgen.
Now, if this isn't exciting enough, we also get to see two Titans of law go head-to-head in one of the most highly publicised legal matters of recent times, one that has caught the intrigue and imagination of the world far beyond law. Esteemed legal commentator Roy Keane has said "at this point the only clear winners here are going to to be the lawyers". Roy's astute tactical analysis - as always - is spot on here, as hourly rates for Magic Circle Partners are well over ￡1000, and the KCs both firms have instructed have match-day fees of over ￡10,000 in some cases. And for both sides, nobody is worrying about legal fees.
Clearly Freshfields and Slaughters will want to do their best for their respective clients, but you'd be a fool to think bragging rights aren't also at stake on the pitch here. This all in the backdrop of England's Euro 2024 campaign too - what a truly exciting couple of months we have in store! My only hope is that is doesn't impact Gareth's dressing room.
Check out this article from The Lawyer for more information.
A&O Shearman raise pay
4 June 2024
???A&O Shearman join the party ??
Now, I know it may be a bit grandiose / over the top to quote myself, but yesterday I said "my view remains that A&OS will match". And in a move that will surprise absolutely nobody what-so-ever, 24 hours later, A&OS match FBD, Links, and CC.
This only leaves three questions:
London v US law firm pay
3 June 2024
???Is London becoming New York when it comes to pay? ??
(Allow me some artistic liberty here please...)
Unless you've been living under a rock recently, you will have all seen that (trigger warning Slaughters associates) three out of four Magic Circle firms have put their NQ salaries up to ￡150,000 - and all eyes are on A&O Shearman (and S&M...) to see if they'll match.
My view remains that A&OS will match, and the jury remains out if S&M will. There has also been a lot of commentary of whether the famous 'pay bunching' at MC firms remains true or whether these firms have upped salaries across the board.
Well, my sources at these firms tell me that associate pay has increased pari passu across the PQE ladder. The great thing about these increases is that, for many people at MC firms, it is likely to reduce the previously overly weighted importance that money has when it comes to choosing if they want to move to a US firm, as the difference is no longer c.60%+. It's now (for MC to Cravath) c. 17%.
I'm not saying an additional 17% isn't a lot of money - and this is just base numbers, the US firms’ bonuses are still considerably more - but it will, in my view, bring other important factors into the light such as culture, progression, diversity, and firm infrastructure. My query at the top (is London becoming NYC?) stems from the top firms in NYC (and nearly all major cities in the US for that matter) pay their associates EXACTLY the same amount - including bonuses - therefore making associates consider all the other factors when it comes to a move. And in my view, London is getting closer and closer to this point.
There are currently c.28 firms in London who pay within c.20% of London's highest payers. Yes, the majority are US firms and there are only a handful of English firms paying these numbers, but I'm going to be very interested to see what other English firms do following the MC pay increases.
Firms like HSF, NRF, Mayer Brown, and Hogan Lovells, who were previously only ￡5k off what the MC were paying. Will they increase too to stay within touching distance? Or will they 'accept' their new position when it comes to pay and risk losing more associates to a wider array of firms?
Caveats:
For enquiries, get in touch with Luke via his?LinkedIn profile.
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