Legal salaries are likely to remain flat in the UK and Middle East despite the redundancies, market uncertainty and other pandemic-related fallouts of the past year, according to legal recruiters IDEX Consulting.
The annual IDEX salary guide for the legal expertise industry, which uses data and research from the previous 12 months, found a 4.8% increase in candidates but 29% fewer jobs registered.
However, the legal sector had quickly returned to a more normal level as firms transitioned to working from home, with a significant increase in vacancies and market confidence towards the end of the year, IDEX found. Some 60% of business owners predicted higher sales and productivity levels in 2021, compared to 15% who predicted lower levels.
In terms of salary levels, the research found little change in legal sector jobs in the UK and the Middle East. According to the guide, solicitors with seven years’ post-qualification experience, for example, can expect £120,000+ at London City firms, £225,000+ (Magic Circle firms), £90,000+ (West End firms), £85,000–£115,000 (in-house IT/telecoms/pharma/business services), £60,000–£76,000 (Scotland, private practice) and £55,000–£70,000 (Middle East, regional).
IDEX predicts a high demand for firms to digitally up-skill their workforce this year, as the legal sector will rely more heavily on technology in the post-pandemic world. ‘Future lawyers will therefore need to demonstrate they can work with a multiple of software and hardware, with flexibility and show their digital expertise from the application process onwards,’ the report states.
Matt Green, CEO of IDEX, said: ‘There are so many unanswered questions about working practices, economic stability, vaccines, and even the ongoing complications of Brexit.
‘What we can be certain of in 2021 is that we will see many entirely new challenges for employers and individuals, as inflation is expected to rise again to 1.2%, while salary increases will remain flat at 2.5%.’
