First-year barristers at elite commercial chambers can earn twice as much as US firm NQs

That is the risk and nature of self employment for you. What you can make varies enormously as the amount of work / number of clients you take on has a direct impact on your earnings.

Not the case for employed solicitors. The base salary is fixed – though you could get bonuses for the grind if your firm pays one – otherwise, all your billables benefit the firm. If you hit or exceed target, you might get a pay rise promotion or bonus eventually but it won’t directly impact your immediate earnings.

So really, it’s a case of busy businesses making more money than busy and employed individuals. Not really news but a good illustration of employment and self employment. Good for those barristers doing well for themselves.

I’m already concerned this interesting comparison will be used in the NQ pay war to fuel higher pay rises – which is already at astronomical and absurd levels.

Let’s not.

There is quite a lot of misinformation and generalised comment here that misses a lot of relevant detail. I never normally reply to pay posts because they are usually just tittle-tattle, but think it important in a post like this (and more specifically the comments) to provide a little context. For background I am a London based commercial barrister with a little over 10 years call.

Yes, the commercial Bar can earn a lot (I say ‘can’ for reasons I will come on to). The commercial Bar has become increasingly competitive in the last 10 years. You will often see the same faces over-and-over in the big money cases at the Rolls Building. However, with the exception of a few sets, earnings in the first 5 years can be extremely varied. I say apart from a few sets because chambers such as Brick Court, OEC, Essex Court, etc. are slightly different. Everyone else at the commercial Bar will usually find pretty significant fluctuation in their earnings. I had one year where I had 3 large trials, all happening over the following 9 months, settle in the space of 3 weeks. Each of those trial would have been worth in the region of 60-100k each in preparation and trial fee as junior counsel. That stung and pretty much ruined my earnings that year. That is however a rarity. In other years, I have had 3 large trials that do go the distance interspersed with numerous interim applications. All bringing in sizable earnings. This is why earnings can vary enormously.

As for hourly rates…this is where I have seen the biggest change in the past 10-15 years. When I started, Silks were charging 400p/h with the exception of the very very pinnacle of the commercial Bar who might charge 500 or even 550p/h. Nowadays, not only have Silk rates at the top gone to easily 1000p/h, but there has been a significant bunching up of earnings with very few commercial juniors charging under £350p/h in London sets. It is safe to say that there will unlikely be a commercial practitioner in London on under £250p/h whereas 15 years ago, there were a lot of juniors pricing themselves at 120-150p/h to get work in the door.

Here is also one of the biggest errors made in the comments above – barristers are very rarely billing 1600-1800 hours a year. The work patterns of barristers are not comparable to solicitors. I know a lot of very successful practitioners who are billing 1300 hours a year. I know of barristers effectively working part time on a few cases and still pulling in pretty big money for 800 hours a year. The point is that when you are preparing for trial, you are working 60-100 hours a week. When you are in a quiet period, ie, between Christmas and New Year, you will often find counsel billing 0 hours a week. It can vary enormously and is one of the features that I enjoy most. It gives me the time to pick up the kids from school on a Wednesday and take them for some food, it also puts me in control of the time I work (apart from Court dates).

Here is the next thing…overheads. Yes, the figures are gross. Out of that and straight off the top is chambers fees. Anywhere from 10-25% depending on the amount billed per year and usually on a sliding scale. Then you may also have room rent, depending on your chambers. This runs anywhere from £500 p/m (for a broom cupboard) to £2500 p/m for a comfy room with plenty of space, including for a sofa, pupil desk etc. Most people share rooms so are usually on the hook for between £600 and £1000 p/m. Despite covid and home working, a lot of chambers insist on members taking physical space, to ensure that they have paying tenants and can afford the building they’re in.

Tax – dammit. This is the pits, it really is, and is why you need a good accountant from the get-go at the commercial Bar. If you really want to get confused, read about paying tax on the cash or accruals basis. It means if barristers have a very good year and then a bad year, or a year where they have aged debt, they can land in a very very difficult spot with their tax.

As for incorporation…there is almost no reason to do this and is why so few barristers have. In reality, you will likely land up paying more tax on an incorporated basis, than a self-employed basis.

So! It is a lot more nuanced than suggested. Yes, commercial barristers can earn a lot of money, even in their junior years. If you are taken as a junior on a big case that is running for 18 months to 2 years, you can make 250-350k gross per year (remember to minus in the region 17% for chambers fees, plus circa 10k in room rent, plus a few thousand for other sundries and then tax). However, I have seen other commercial barristers struggle at times, myself included, who take home £50-70k in an early years. Its safe to say that once you are experienced (circa 10 years), you will be making at least £150k in a terrible year and you should have average earnings up to the 250k-350k consistently. There are exceptions to this in the aforementioned magic circle sets. There are a number of experienced juniors in those sets who are rarely undertaking cases without a leader and in those circumstances you tend to find that they are earning significantly higher sums. They are working for long periods for big clients at 350-500 p/h for 1300-1500+ hours p/y. The result can be that there are junior tenants of 5-15 years call earning 500-750k a year at places like Brick Court.

I think what should be remembered is that there are also a lot of commercial chambers that overcharge for their work in my humble opinion. I won’t name them obviously, but have found some of counsel’s fees for relatively straightforward applications to be extortionate and sometimes reflect junior hourly rates nearing £750-800p/h. It is also worth pointing out that its a damn difficult job. Not always – but quite a lot of the time. It will attract people with the brains to do it and if those people weren’t practicing law, they would probably be making more in banking.

Criminal barristers regularly lie about their poor earnings. Chambers in Northern Cities are chock full of barristers weeping outside courtrooms but earning well over six figures.

It is quite possible to break GBP1m at a non-MC set as a junior of 10-15 yrs’ call.

While this implies working an insane and inhuman c.3000 hrs p/y at a rate of 325 or 350p/h, if you are on brief for say 2 x 2 wk trials and they go the distance (or sufficiently so that you incur your brief fees), your effective hourly rate can increase to 600p/h during the c. 12-14 wk period spent on brief – which, of course, you will more than earn – blood, sweat and tears will generally be secreted, mopped-up, and secreted again in copious quantities.

Chuck in a few 1-day applications for say 25-30k a pop and you can spend the rest of the year not working like a beast and, maybe, trying to remind your family/friends who you are. Although in reality most barristers are too scared to chill quite as much as they might want to between trials, as there is no knowing whether further trials will stand up, or which instruction they fail to say yes to might be the next big thing.

In terms of earnings, the foregoing would represent a good, but not atypical, year, for me and various colleagues at the commercial, non-MC, Bar at the senior junior stage. I imagine earnings are maybe 20-40% higher at the MC Bar at an equivalent stage, but would be interested to hear from others.

The challenge when one is at this career stage is gaining enough advocacy experience to make a credible application for silk, and then, if one is successful, ditching that successful senior junior practice and reinventing oneself as a leader.

Scares the bejesus out of me tbf.

You will be worth your pay one day but not at NQ level. Organising documents and keeping stakeholders informed with advice given by your supervisor only bills so much. You are overpaid for what skills you have at this level. Clients are overcharged for your services. But it’s a vicious cycle. They get charged. They pay up.

BTW, not all juniors are overpaid – so I don’t agree with you. NQs certainly are. Juniors less so the more experience they gain. The pay bunching issue at the early to mid junior years is a much bigger issue and is one that merits genuine concern.