What is the salary war?
A salary war in the legal industry is nothing new. For years, the top firms have battled to offer solicitors the highest salaries in the industry with the objective being to attract and employ the best of the best. More recently, attention has turned to the salaries being offered to newly qualified solicitors. At smaller regional firms a newly qualified solicitor will receive a salary of around £40,000, whereas leading metropolitan firms have started to offer starting salaries over £100,000. But it doesn’t end there. When incomes rise for newly qualified solicitors, they must too rise for mid-level solicitors, creating a chain reaction.
As leading firms continue to increase their salary offerings, they tempt talent away from smaller regional firms. This is causing salary inflation across the entire industry, as more and more firms battle to retain the top solicitors.
Is it sustainable?
With incomes skyrocketing across the legal sector, it calls into question how sustainable this practice is, both for the firms boosting these wages and the solicitors accepting these roles.
Similar to receiving a promotion, a higher salary often means higher expectations. For solicitors, this can mean working longer hours, sacrificing time off and being permanently available for clients. However, it’s exactly these types of expectations that cause so many solicitors to experience burnout, as their work/life balance tips dangerously to one side. Unfortunately, this has only been made worse in the past year, as working from home has increased the belief that solicitors should be constantly available. With no escape from their work, it would seem that the price a solicitor has to pay to be a top earner is often their personal life and mental wellbeing.
Whilst solicitors might enjoy the work and appreciate the extra income at first, the expectations are likely to become unmanageable and unsustainable in the long run.
Is there an alternative?
What’s needed is a way for hard-working solicitors to set their own expectations, so that they can do the work they enjoy and earn the income they deserve, without having to make any sacrifices. Luckily, the Bamboo Platform was designed for solicitors to do exactly that.
The Bamboo Platform is a law firm operating system, which enables solicitors to take back control and start their own firms. In doing so, solicitors have the opportunity to develop their practices, manage their client relationships and retain between 70-85% of their earnings. Whilst running a law firm might seem even more stressful than working at a leading firm, the Bamboo team are here to help. We manage all the back-office processes required to operate your firm, from regulation and insurance to invoicing and audits. This leaves you free to focus on your clients and work, without the pressure of corporate expectations hanging over your head.
So, if you’re interested in achieving a more sustainable work/life balance, get in touch with the team at Bamboo.
