Salary survey: Lawyers in UK banks enjoy higher salaries, says Michael Page

The salaries of lawyers working for financial services companies has ....at for UK Lawyers are currently seeing an upwards trend in their salary scales, according to recruiter Michael Page's most recent salary survey of lawyers within the banking industry.

Newly qualified lawyers can expect an average salary of 31,000, with some earning as much as 42,000 and others just 20,000, says the survey of banks, other financial servicers companies and insurance companies.

Those with seven or more years of experience earn an average of 108,000, with a minimum of 66,000 and a maximum of 150,000. Heads of legal departments are paid an average of 165,000.

Around 500 legal departments from banks were surveyed, with a response rate of 32% achieved over a three-month period.

Peter Thompson, director of legal business at Michael Page, said that the upwards trend "reflects the shortage of good candidates in the banking and finance markets.

"The banks and finance houses are having to compete with the top 15 UK law firms and also with the top 10-15 US law firms, to recruit the good people."

He said that in the past five years US law firms in London had expanded in sectors such as project finance, capital markets, derivatives, securitisation and general banking law.

He added that private practices in New York and the rest of the US are currently offering between 75,000 - 90,000 for newly qualified lawyers, those with one to seven years' experience. This is significantly higher than the UK figures mentioned before, but only very few are recruited at these salary levels, Thompson maintains.

Thompson said that an increasing number of lawyers were opting for in-house roles within banks and investment houses and then moving on to non-legal positions, often to develop their commercial skills.

Pay levels of in-house lawyers this year may be affected by changes in M&A activity and other aspects of the economy, he added. d econo, iuse he anticipates changes for several reasons. Annual reviews tend to be held in the months of April and May for one. The current investment climate, with the increase in M&A activity and the slowing down of the amount being invested, will also bring change, but it is difficult to say yet what exactly this will be. "We will have a better idea in three months", after annual pay reviews held in April and May, he said.