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On a broad scale, you can expect an average starting salary of £34,700 as an entry level solicitor. Senior solicitors can expect to earn £140,000+.
Across the Solicitor profession, trainee solicitors or Newly Qualified Associates (NQs) have the lowest salaries, while highly experienced solicitors in London tend to have the highest salaries.
Mid-career solicitors, with 4 – 9 years of experience, earn an average yearly salary of £47,600, while an experienced solicitor with 10 – 20 years of experience makes on average £78,950. Solicitors with more than 20 years of experience earn £98,600 on average.
Trainee solicitor salaries range from anywhere between £18,500 for first-year trainees in smaller commercial and High Street practices, and up to £47,000+ in larger commercial city law firms. However, some major law firms pay 1st and 2nd-year trainee solicitors upwards of £60,000 per year.
The Law Society currently recommends a minimum starting salary for Trainee Solicitors outside of London of £20,217. For Trainee Solicitors in London, the recommended minimum starting salary is £22,794. However, trainees may find salaries at a higher level in London, depending on the firm they choose to apply for. Typically, trans-Atlantic firms offer some of the highest salaries in the City.
Newly Qualified solicitor (NQ) salaries vary massively depending on practice area, working hours and location. According to The Lawyer, some of the major city law firms pay NQs in excess of £160,000. Salaries across high-street law practices for NQs tend to be lower, ranging from £25,000 to £45,000+ per year.
According to recruitment company Reed, the average salary for a solicitor at Partner level in the UK is £67,223. However, in London, solicitor salaries for Partners can exceed £200,000 and scale up to more than £1 million. Outside of London, Partners at a law firm Solicitors can expect to earn anything up to £100,000.
The average salary for in-house solicitors in the UK is £95,239, according to The Legist. In London, salaries for in-house lawyers can reach up to £200,000+ depending on the area of law and seniority level.
Pay scales across the different areas of law vary vastly. For example, salaries for corporate lawyers tend to be higher than other areas of legal practice.
Although salary levels are usually lower in areas such as Criminal Law and Family Law, many solicitors in these fields are passionate about the work they do. Work in these fields can also command a higher salary if, for example, the firm does high-profile criminal defence work or handles family matters for high-net-worth individuals.
According to Indeed.com, the average salary for a corporate lawyer in the UK is £72,960. Cities paying the highest corporate solicitor salaries include:
The average UK salary for a criminal lawyer is £39,059 per year. However, some of the highest paying criminal solicitor salaries are outside of London in regions such as:
Criminal lawyer salaries in Kent, the West Midlands and West Yorkshire also average around £50,000 (excluding bonuses).
According to UK Talent, the average salary for an intellectual property lawyer is £60,000. Trainee Solicitors in intellectual property law practising in London can expect to earn £45,000+. Outside London, salary levels for trainee intellectual property lawyers can range from £30,000 to £35,000 per year.
Newly qualified intellectual property solicitors practising in London can earn anywhere between £60K and £75K. Outside London, salaries can range from £47,000 to £55,000.
Intellectual property law partners can earn upwards of £100,000 within London and other major cities across the UK.
Tax lawyer salaries in the UK average £77,200 per year, according to Jobted. Salaries in this profession are 161% higher than the UK’s national average salary. Senior tax lawyers can earn in excess of £107,000 per year, while the average starting salary for a junior tax lawyer is £19,000 per year.
Some of the highest paying cities for tax lawyers include:
Average clinical negligence lawyer salaries are £43,125 in the UK, according to Indeed.com. UK towns and cities paying clinical negligence lawyers the highest salaries include:
If you choose to become a solicitor, gaining experience and advancing your career will put you in a strong position to negotiate your solicitor salary. Solicitors spend their day negotiating deals on behalf of clients, so you can put your skills to good use when negotiating your salary for a new job or when seeking a pay rise with a current employer.
To negotiate a solicitor salary, it’s important that you do your research and keep an eye on average solicitor salaries in your area of legal practice and location. For example, the Law Society recommended a 4% increase in 2022 for trainee solicitors in England and Wales.
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