Profession
In-house lawyers are bucking the credit crunch with pay awards and may offer a safer route for City lawyers, according to recent research.
A survey conducted by Incomes Data Services found that the average pay increase for in-house lawyers was 6.6% while inflation was at 4.7% for that period. It was reported that the average head of legal salary is now £131,502—an increase of 5.4%. Steve Tatton, editor of the In- House Lawyers Pay Report 2008, says: “We are seeing some of the highest wage inflationary pressure at the bottom of the management hierarchy, suggesting that this is where businesses are finding recruitment and retention most difficult.” He adds that if redundancies at City law firms continue then a career with an in-house team could be a safe bet.