We worked it out
It will come as no surprise that junior lawyers, and particularly those at elite law firms in the City of London, can earn seriously big money — the trade off being working hours that range from reasonable to very long indeed.
Have you ever wondered what these sizeable salaries would look like when adjusted for the amount of time the junior lawyers work? Well, wonder no more.
Legal Cheek has combined its exclusive working hours research with its comprehensive rundown of newly qualified (NQ) lawyer salaries to give an estimate of what fresh-faced solicitors earn per hour.
Splitting the firms into six categories, US firms in London, Magic Circle, Silver Circle, international, boutique, and national, here are the average hourly earnings figures for NQs in the UK:
US firms in London
Average NQ salary: £154,161
Average daily working hours: 11 hours 13 minutes
Average earnings per hour: £60.74
This group work the longest hours of any NQs. But the salaries are so high that they still bag the average earnings per hour top spot.
Magic Circle
Average NQ salary: £125,000
Average daily working hours: 10 hours 59 minutes
Average earnings per hour: £50.80
The £125,000 NQ salary now paid by the five Magic Circle firms is pretty amazing. But with the average day here being only 14 minutes shorter than at US outfits, the average earnings per hour come in nearly a tenner lower.
Silver Circle
Average NQ salary: £113,000
Average daily working hours: 10 hours 29 minutes
Average earnings per hour: £47.79
Slightly lower (but still pretty great) salaries and slightly gentler (but still pretty long) hours bring the five Silver Circle firms in just below their magical rivals.
International
Average NQ salary: £95,145
Average daily working hours: 9 hours 57 minutes
Average earnings per hour: £42.26
It’s worth noting that this category is quite large, containing over 30 firms. At the top end, the big global megafirms created by UK-US mergers are in Magic and Silver Circle territory when it comes to earnings per hour, with high salaries and chunky hours. Meanwhile the more national of the international firms came in a fair bit lower, with less generous pay and better work/life balance. Taken as a whole the group offered NQs average earnings per hour of over £40.
Boutique
Average NQ salary: £72,400
Average daily working hours: 9 hours 21 minutes
Average earnings per hour: £34.22
£34.22 per hour is not to be sniffed at, but it’s nearly half what some US firms pay per hour. The interesting work in fields like private client, media and sports law make up for the shortfall.
National
Average NQ salary: £68,600
Average daily working hours: 9 hours 21 minutes
Average earnings per hour: £32.50
It helps that the majority of roles in national firms are outside the capital. Avoiding the hellish housing market is surely worth lower average earnings per hour.
How did we get here? Well, we’ve taken the number of days in 2023 (365), removed weekends and bank holidays, factored in the individual firms’ holiday allowances, and split each outfit’s NQ salary across the remaining days. Then, taking the average working hours of the 2,000+ junior lawyers we surveyed, we’ve divided up those daily wages into hour figures.
Please bear in mind that the hourly earnings figures are just a rough guide. Our working hours research is the most detailed of its kind, and has been covered by the Financial Times and The Times among other leading publications, but corporate lawyers’ hours fluctuate wildly and our figures are only averages. The data also does not include bonuses or additional perks offered, and concerns only NQ hours and wages.