UK lawyers earn £64k on average — the third highest salary beaten only by Switzerland and Germany
Ever wondered how much lawyers in the UK earn compared with their European counterparts? Well, the number crunchers at an investment advice website have ranked the European countries where lawyers can earn the most.
The research found that lawyers in the UK earn £63,951 on average a year. This puts them in third place out of the 24 EU countries analysed. Invezz, the website which analysed data from Glassdoor, an employer feedback website, said that information regarding lawyers’ salaries was not available in all EU countries.
The study also found that lawyers in the UK earn 91% more than the national average annual wage.
Swiss lawyers are the highest paid in Europe earning an average annual salary of £115,858. It’s worth noting that salaries in Switzerland are generally quite high to match the costs of living. German lawyers make the second highest annual income with an average of £72,253.
Irish lawyers (£59,231) and Dutch lawyers (£57,304) come in fourth and fifth place, respectively, while lawyers in Luxembourg are the sixth highest paid in Europe (£55,626), according to the number bods. Belgian (£54,207) and French (£52,260) lawyers rank in seventh and eighth position, and are the final two on the list where lawyers earn above £50,000.
At the lower end of the pay scale, Invezz found that lawyers in Turkey (£8,760) and Greece (£9,680) are among the lowest paid in Europe, banking under £10,000 each year. Greek lawyers also make 40% less than the average annual salary in the country, which is £15,906, according to the study.
The findings come as the majority of law firms implemented a range of cost-cutting measures to ward off the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic. These included lawyer pay cuts or freezes and delays to bonus decisions.
