North-west salaries: lawyers with three to seven years’ post-qualification experience shade colleagues in private practice

In-house salaries have risen significantly in the north-west, with lawyers with three to seven years’ post-qualification experience (PQE) now earning more than colleagues in private practice, research revealed this week.

A survey by recruitment consultancy BCL Legal revealed that in-house lawyers are also much more likely to receive benefits such as a car allowance, greater pension contributions and longer holidays than solicitors in private practice.


In-house lawyers with three years’ PQE are earning an average salary of £40,500, according to the survey of 100 employed lawyers in the region, compared to £38,000 for private practice counterparts. The top salary for in-house lawyers at that level is £46,757.


Lawyers working in-house with six years’ PQE saw their average salary rise by £6,500 on last year to £56,500, with the highest earners commanding £68,316. Private practice lawyers at the same level earned an average salary of £52,000, and a top salary of £65,000.


At the top end of the scale, in-house lawyers with more than ten years’ PQE earned £142,000, but the highest salary for junior partners was £160,000.


Mark Levine, in-house director at BCL Legal, said: ‘We were surprised by how high the figures were for the middle group of three to seven years’ PQE, where their remuneration is higher than in private practice. Benefits are also much better in-house.’


More than 90% of those questioned received pension contributions, with an average employer contribution of 12%. Mr Levine said: ‘Many of the in-house lawyers surveyed were offered final salary pensions, and 12% is a high figure for average contributions. In private practice, you might get a matched pension contribution of about 5-10%.’


More than 70% of respondents were given a car allowance, and 92% were entitled to 25 days’ holiday or more. Mr Levine said: ‘You would not get a car allowance in private practice, and 20 days’ holiday is the norm.’


He added that high demand for in-house lawyers had led to the rise in salaries: ‘The in-house recruitment market has been very strong this year. Candidates have had more than one offer, and so have been in a good position to negotiate high salaries.


‘But if private practice lawyers want to make the move in-house, it is best to do it by the time they are five years’ qualified at the latest, as that it what clients prefer.’