Newly-qualified solicitors in Allen & Overy and Linklaters have recently received the good news that their salaries are rising by 16% to £125,000. Their seniors in these and other firms in or close to the ‘magic circle’ doubtless receive proportionately higher rewards, culminating perhaps in the £4.94m paid in the year to April 2022 to the highest earning partner in Clifford Chance (as reported by the Law Society Gazette, 17 January 2023). The Gazette had previously reported on 5 August 2022 that hourly rates for partners in magic circle firms have now reached between £1,000 and £1,500. Newly-qualified solicitors in those firms charge up to £600 an hour. Total revenue of the top 50 UK firms now exceeds £16bn a year.
By contrast, solicitors whose clients are funded by legal aid are paid according to a complex system of prescribed rates and fixed fees for particular tasks,
