Law Society recommends 10% pay rise for trainee solicitors

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By Bradley Fountain-Green on

10

£26,068 in London and £23,122 elsewhere

The Law Society of England and Wales has increased its minimum salary recommendations for aspiring solicitors by 10%.

Rookies undertaking a training contract or qualifying work experience (QWE) should be paid a minimum of £26,068 in London and £23,122 elsewhere, according to the Chancery Lane-based body. The recommended rates come into effect on 1 September 2023.

“We consider the increase in the recommended salary for aspiring solicitors to be appropriate at this time,” said Law Society President Lubna Shuja. “There are a range of factors that were considered during our discussions around the minimum salary policy and uplift, including the rise in cost-of-living expenses — which have particularly hit those on lower salaries — and the economic impact on solicitors’ businesses,” said Law Society President Lubna Shuja.

The 2023 Legal Cheek Firms Most List

Shuja continued: “We encourage employers to consider this recommendation when looking at how much they will pay their employees.”

Legal Cheek’s Firms Most List 2023 shows that trainee rates across the City are much higher than the minimum guidelines, with the highest paid rookies topping out at £60,000 in their first year. But some trainees continue to be paid less than the Society’s guidelines, particularly those working in areas of the law supported by legal aid.

As with all The Law Society’s recommended salary increases, the new levels are only a guideline and are completely unenforceable — i.e., firms can simply ignore them — following the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) decision to scrap statutory minimums in 2014.

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10 Comments

Visible Hand

Pathetic. A knee-jerk move to increase pay by inflation embedded systemic inflation. The proper response is a 5% or so increase.

V

Meanwhile some firms pay there trainees 60k…you know how mad that sounds

DWF Associate London (on living wage)

Nice that DWF would then have to increase trainee salaries (bantz!)

C

What’s the SQE like for people?

SQE passer

Very Bad

Increase civil legal aid massively

Legal aid firms simply cannot afford to pay this kind of increase.

I

How’s SQE like compared to lpc

Huh?

Is it possible to live in London on 26,068 in 2023?

That would be something like 20-21k post tax ect – so 1.8k a month. Even living in someones bedroom in z5 you’d have 50 quid a month…

Recruitment Consultant Glasgow

I SERIOUSLY doubt that. I am a recruitment consultant, I do mainly paralegal and junior legal roles. I live in Glasgow my base salary is more than £26k plus I have frequent bonuses. So I cannot imagine living in London with a salary lower than £35-40k.

S

Exactly If we’re being serious who is living on 26k in London without dependents ? I rather trap.

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