Show Me The Money

Saw this article on "Barrister-in-making's" blog and I felt the need to clarify the situation. I stare at these numbers everyday so even if you don't trust me, trust my professional knowledge.

Our junior lawyers may be starting at SGD4000 a month but bear in mind, these jokers get 3-8 months of bonuses every year which means that their annual total remuneration is way more than SGD4000 x 12 months + 1 month AWS which is essentially your 13th month bonus. An average of 6 months is considered conservative for average performers. To be fair, I have seen more 8 months bonus than 3. If you're getting 3 months, you gotta be really crap and not doing much work. Even then, I understand that this is still way lower than Hong Kong and London.

Tax. Mind you, the tax in Singapore is about say 18%(i'm not sure of the exact number though) for the top bracket but in London, you're paying about double that. The hours you're clocking is probably much more as well. Most local law firms think 2000 - 2500 is normal but then if you're a fee-earner in the Magic Circle firms, you're clocking ALOT more. US firms in the UK does pay alot more but the demands are proportionate.

Last year, a top local law firm led the pay increment for all its lawyers (about 20%). All other law firms of the same level followed suit. At the same time, please do not be blinded by how they mark the NQ or 1 year PQE. At about 2 years PQE, you're probably looking at 6-7k which is great increment for 2 years of slaving and of course, the experience. If you look at the Magic Circle fee-earners in Singapore, they may be paid by UK rates, taxes and even CPF (both employer's and employee's) paid for by the firm.

So do not be jealous of our Hong Kong counterparts. They're billing the numbers that they are getting as well. The market is different and so will the work be.

Most of these "exported" lawyers look to come back home some day and more often than not, they will need to face the massive pay cut and enter the dilemma of "Should I take a cut and come home but I miss Laksa and Mom".

There are of course pros and cons you'd have to weigh. To solve the problem of a shortage of lawyers in Singapore, admission to the bar should be extended to students from more universities from all over the world. Face it, if you can pass the PLC here, you will be in a position to know the Singapore legal system alot better and with maybe longer pupillage, some of these people can make good lawyers as well. Just because you've graduated from NUS Law School shouldn't give these people immediate priority. look at our poor "Barrister-in-making", slogging his ass off in cold and lonely Hobart just because they don't recognise him here and he's got to get called in Oz first before he can be seen on par with his peers back home. I could have done my bar with "King's Cross" and be begging from door to door for a training contract. Unfortunately, an Asian girl in a pro white male environment is going to find it really tough and let's not forget the cost involved. Well, that's another story altogether. All in all, Singapore should review how to get our lawyers called and a more stringent PLC could just do the job.


Pay lawyers more to keep them: Chief Justice
By Pearl Forss, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 18 August 2007 2259 hrs

Pay lawyers more to keep them: Chief Justice

SINGAPORE: More young lawyers are switching careers, citing long hours, unrewarding pay and stress as reasons.

This causes a shortage of lawyers, and as the economy booms and the demand for law services goes up, the problem is becoming more acute.

How to address this problem?

"Pay them well," said Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong, in his address to law students at the inaugural Singapore Legal Forum on Saturday.

"Our young lawyers enjoy a degree of professional and social freedom and mobility which lawyers of my generation have never experienced. Perhaps the solution is in the old fashion but still fashionable way of using carrots without the stick since the latter doesn't work. Pay them well. Greed works most of the time, even for the large majority of people in affluent societies," he said.

In recent years, even the best-paying firms in Singapore are seeing their young lawyers jumping ship to Hong Kong, where salaries for junior lawyers start at about S$11,650 a month.

In contrast, the big firms in Singapore pay junior lawyers just over $4,000.

A second law school has been established at the Singapore Management University.

Also, the NUS Law Faculty has increased its intake and firms are now allowed to hire foreign lawyers.

But the shortage has not eased yet.

Another issue of concern addressed at the Legal Forum is how to make the law more accessible to the public.

Laws may be available online but the language in which it is written makes it difficult for the layman to understand it.

So the Chief Justice said that he would ask the Law Academy's publishing committee to study the feasibility of publishing simplified law books.

While access to the law is important, access to justice is even more so.

This need will be provided by lawyers who do pro bono work, that is providing service free of charge.

But such services are currently confined to Community Court cases, and this year, more convicted offenders are appearing in High Court appeals without lawyers.

In his speech, the Chief Justice also addressed the issue of restoring confidence in the law profession, particularly after the high-profile case of lawyer David Rasif who fled with more than $12 million in clients' monies.

"We must be more discerning about what we read in the media. The facts do not suggest any loss of confidence in the legal profession," said the Chief Justice.

"On the contrary, our large and medium law firms are generally held in high regard in Singapore and in the region. All the ethical and professional lapses that I have come across in my 40 years in the law have emanated from small law firms. It's very unfortunate," he added.

Although only a small minority of lawyers in these firms have committed breach of trust, the Chief Justice stressed that all law students must be taught the importance of ethical values.

The forum was organised by the UK Singapore Law Students Society. - CNA/ir