Salaries for Yorkshire’s newly qualified lawyers trail competing regions

SALARIES for newly qualified lawyers in Yorkshire trail behind competing regions, a new survey has found.

Research from Leeds-based specialist legal recruiter BCL Legal reveals that the average pay grade for NQs in the region was £32,000, for the North West the average was £32,500, whilst in the Midlands the figure was £33,500.

More than 400 NQs were surveyed during the process, which analysed the salaries of NQs working in the offices of national, regional and medium sized commercial firms as well as those working in the magic circle firms in London.

The research, which covered core disciplines including commercial litigation, insurance, corporate and property, showed that London NQs were the best paid with an average salary of £51,000 with the Home Counties coming in second with an average of £36,000.

James Batt, managing director of BCL Legal, said: “There’s no doubting competition has been stiff this year with NQs working hard to find the right position. However, many areas of the law – including commercial disciplines and insurance litigation – have been buoyant and it’s positive to report that average salaries for NQs are pretty strong given the current market conditions. It’s not really a shock to see London coming out on top but the difference between the salaries paid in the capital compared to the rest of the UK is quite stark.”

He added: “Our prediction is that the market will continue to evolve and NQs will need to adapt to those changes – especially as more mergers and acquisitions will no doubt happen over the next 12 months.”