The magic circle headquarters series#

Using an exchange rate of 1GBP = 1.40USD as an example, that’s a base salary of around £218,000 and £236,000 respectively, before annual or special bonuses are even factored in. The “MoneyLaw” increases for mid-level associates in particular have been chunky, with “class of 2016” associates now earning $305,000 and “class of 2015” associates now earning $330,000, following the latest increases led by Milbank and then Davis Polk.

The magic circle headquarters series#

Second, the recent series of “MoneyLaw” salary increases in the US have, in some cases, been applied across the Atlantic to those firms’ London offices too. Your hours will probably be longer at a large US firm, but that is far from certain. What this shows is that there is no longer a discernible safety net that applies to lawyers at large firms, regardless of whether you work for a large UK-headquartered firm or a US firm.

But to point to money in isolation risks glossing over a number of specific factors which are influencing the current transfer climate.įirst, hours at top tier UK and independent firms can be equal to hours at US firms if you are placed in a busy team (just ask Freshfields private equity, or A&O leverage finance, or anyone in M&A during the first half of 2021), and the demands on junior and mid-level lawyers since the pandemic started have only increased, both for those in front-end transactional work and on the litigious side too (this lawyer is aware of a number of associates at different magic circle firms who worked in excess of 2,500 billable hours in the most recent performance year). The money is undeniably a major factor driving the movement of associates (and, to a lesser extent, partners too). So - is it just about the money? Well, sort of. Current factors driving associates to move to US firms I am one of those lawyers to have recently made the leap to a US firm, and I know of many colleagues who are doing the same. And it is this salary gap which may turn the usual steady stream of mid-level associate defections to US firms into a roaring river. What is often lost in this US law firm debate is not the gap in salaries at the NQ level, which is considerable, but the salary gap further up the associate pay bands. These lines are invariably trotted out in some form or another to any UK associate with itchy feet considering making a lateral move. These include: the long(er) hours and billable targets at US firms, an “always on” expectation, more demanding and unrelenting partners, a lack of formal training processes, a heavy emphasis on fund and private equity work (rather than listed and private client work), and being an outpost of a larger American-based and focused behemoth (as opposed to working in the London headquarters of the firm). The reasons given as to why one should not give into such salary temptation and jump ship to a top-tier US law firm are varied and, for many associates, have long held sway. There is an ever-present debate on this website and among associates and partners alike as to why people should (and shouldn’t) work at a high paying US law firm over, for example, a magic circle firm or large “independent” firms such as Macfarlanes or Travers Smith. Other large commercial firms have recently sought to follow suit, including Osborne Clarke, Travers Smith, Hogan Lovells and Simmons and Simmons, each raising NQ pay to all time highs. The changes in newly qualified (NQ) salaries, in particular, have been well-publicised on this platform and several others, with a number of US firms now offering a base salary to freshly-minted NQs of close to £150k a year, with the magic circle firms of Linklaters, Allen & Overy, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Clifford Chance now all offering NQ salary packages of at least £100k. We hear a lot about what firms are doing to attract the best talent out of university.

While there are unique factors driving any person’s decision to move laterally to a competitor firm, I have set out below some of the factors that were front of mind for me when considering whether to take the plunge and move to a US firm. I recently made the move from a magic circle law firm to the London office of a US law firm.

One City lawyer sets out some of the factors they took into consideration before making the switch 🇬🇧 ➡️ 🇺🇸