Job vacancy: Million-pound private equity solicitor

London solicitors earning a million pounds (€1.4m) a year are a much rarer species than they used to be. Nick Root, of the headhunter Taylor Root, guesstimates the number in the low hundreds, compared to perhaps 1,000 two years ago.

Those still earning that kind of money (and in a few cases much more) are increasingly likely to work for a US firm rather than a UK practice. This reflects the higher profitability of US practices, whose relatively small teams are not saddled by large corporate departments twiddling their thumbs.

So it is not surprising that a current million pound vacancy - or at least 'up to 1 million' - is being advertised on behalf of a US practice. The ad, placed by Taylor Root, is for a private equity specalist.

The market for private equity lawyers is relatively healthy, but such openings are few and far between as the sector is small. A clutch of firms are well known for private equity including UK practices Dickson Minto and Macfarlanes and US practices Weil, Gotshal & Manges and Latham & Watkins.

Root says the hiring firm has been established in the UK for quite a while and aims to expand in a number of areas. The ad calls for 'an experienced partner who will be able to bring a strong client base.'

The salary will of course reflect the size of the following. Another headhunter said a private equity lawyer looking for a top salary would be expected to bring annual fees of 5 million to 10 million along with them.

Root said that in UK firms salaries for private equity partners ranged enormously, from roughly 200,000 to 800,000.

'Someone at the top of the range would be unlikely to move just for an extra 50,000 or so,' he said. 'But a million has a nice ring to it. People will be more willing to change firm for that.'

Job Vacancy looks at advertisements from both eFinancialCareers.com and other sources