专门服务于法律业的人才咨询公司LawInn近期发布的2009年律师薪酬调查报告显示，外资律所、国内领先律所以及公司法务部门员工的薪酬水平与2008年相比有不同程度的下降。全球性国际律所中国代表处和国内领先律所的律师薪酬下降幅度最大，分别为-19.5%以及 -18.7%。而中小型外国律所以及跨国企业法务部门律师的薪酬则相对受影响较小，分别下降2.8% 以及4%。
但随着经济持续复苏，法律人才招聘市场逐步回暖，LawInn总裁张宁表示，律师薪酬下降趋势已经停止，回升势态初显，但何时能回到2007年的最高水平尚无定论。“虽然从去年第四季度开始，法律人才市场明显开始活跃，但是不代表律师薪酬将以同等速度提高。经历了过去一年的特殊时期之后，国内法律服务市场更加成熟。律所薪酬水平将更趋于理性。同时，随着律师对职业发展的认识更上一个台阶，他们在考虑是否跳槽时将不仅仅只考虑薪酬水平，工作的稳定性和适合性也已成为同等重要的因素，”张先生表示。
A recent legal salary survey report has confirmed that legal salaries in foreign firms, leading domestic firms and in-house departments of MNCs in China all experienced a drop in 2009. The overall year-on-year average change in lawyer compensation across the three categories was an 11% decrease, comparing to a 2% increase in 2008.
The 2009 Legal Salary Survey & Review was issued in March 2010 by LawInn HR Consulting, the first human resource consulting firm specialising in the legal sector in PRC. Almost all the 579 lawyers and legal professionals who participated in the survey are based in Beijing and Shanghai, and primarily focus on business transactions and serving international clients in mainland China. The survey doesn't attempt to cover the entire legal market in the country.
According to the report, associates in the PRC offices of UK and US headquartered global firms and leading domestic firms took the deepest cut in compensation, with an average y-o-y change of -19.5% and -18.7% respectively.
Lawyers working in the PRC offices of smaller foreign firms, such as those from Australia, Singapore, Japan and Europe, and in-house counsel in multinational companies' in-house legal departments, experienced a much smaller reduction in salary, with an average y-o-y change of -2.8% and -4% respectively.
With transactional activity and the business environment continuing to improve, Nick Zhang, founder and director of LawInn, expects the demand for legal talent to surge during 2010 and salary levels to pick up again.
"Since the end of 2009, the legal sector has seen a noticeable increase in recruitment activity, and most of the job openings are in domestic firms and in-house departments. A few international firms have hired additional staff, but most of them are still trying to bring their existing staff back up to full work capacity," said Zhang.
Although salary levels hit the bottom last year and are starting to recover, Zhang predicts that the upward movement in salaries won't be at the same pace as the hiring demand, and it will take quite some time before they surpass to the 2007 peak.
"Having been through a turbulent time, law firms, particularly international firms will take a more sensible and rational approach to compensation packages when they make lateral hires. And also, the candidates have become more mature and will take other importance elements besides compensation into consideration when they consider a career move," said Zhang, echoing a key finding of ALB's recent Employer of Choice survey.
Zhang also expects compensation for junior lawyers to remain flat, but the top-notch talent will continue to enjoy the highest pay checks, as the survey results showed that even during the global economic downturn, the compensation levels for the most experienced and skilled lawyers still increased.ALB
|
|
2006
|
2007
|
2008
|
2009
|
|
Group A foreign firms
|
+17.2%
|
+18.5%
|
+1.0%
|
-19.5%
|
|
Group B foreign firms
|
+18.5%
|
-11.0%
|
+12.3%
|
-2.8%
|
|
Domestic firms
|
+19.2%
|
+19.4%
|
+0.7%
|
-18.7%
|
|
In-house (MNCs)
|
+14.5%
|
+1.0%
|
-6.1%
|
-4.0%
|
|
Overall average y-o-y change
|
+17.3%
|
+10.0%
|
+2.0%
|
-11.0%
|
Compensation charts
|
Associate – with foreign bar
|
|||||
|
PQE
|
Sample size
|
Annual compensation range RMB
|
Average 2009
|
Average of top 50% of samples
|
Average of top 20% of samples
|
|
Senior (≥6 yrs)
|
30
|
400,000 ~ 2,550,000
|
1,186,970
|
1,592,540
|
1,996,720
|
|
Middle (3-5 yrs)
|
20
|
236,000 ~ 1,300,000
|
760,130
|
1,020,660
|
1,170,000
|
|
Junior (<3)
|
9
|
300,000 ~ 850,000
|
651,890
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
Associate – without foreign bar
|
|||||
|
PQE
|
Sample size
|
Annual compensation range RMB
|
Average 2009
|
Average of top 50% of samples
|
Average of top 20% of samples
|
|
Senior (≥6 yrs)
|
27
|
250,000 ~ 1,700,000
|
615,040
|
822,070
|
1,055,200
|
|
Middle (3-5 yrs)
|
34
|
151,000 ~ 815,000
|
347,200
|
453,440
|
554,430
|
|
Junior (<3)
|
20
|
100,000 ~ 260,000
|
174,750
|
226,800
|
257,500
|
|
PQE
|
Sample size
|
Annual compensation range RMB
|
Average 2009
|
Average of top 50% of samples
|
Average of top 20% of samples
|
|
Senior (≥6 yrs)
|
13
|
360,000 ~ 1,660,000
|
635,540
|
817,430
|
n/a
|
|
Middle (3-5 yrs)
|
13
|
129,100 ~ 1,000,000
|
314,390
|
418,290
|
n/a
|
|
Junior (<3)
|
10
|
60,000 ~ 272,000
|
133,600
|
183,000
|
n/a
|
|
PQE
|
Sample size
|
Annual compensation range RMB
|
Average 2009
|
Average of top 50% of samples
|
Average of top 20% of samples
|
|
Senior (≥6 yrs)
|
32
|
150,000 ~ 1,000,000
|
385,660
|
507,810
|
666,670
|
|
Middle (3-5 yrs)
|
54
|
65,000 ~ 500,000
|
204,550
|
254,980
|
304,410
|
|
Junior (<3)
|
32
|
44,000 ~ 230,000
|
119,030
|
155,630
|
191,000
|
|
PQE
|
Sample size
|
Annual compensation range RMB
|
Average 2009
|
Average of top 50% of samples
|
Average of top 20% of samples
|
|
Senior plus (>10)
|
31
|
174,000 ~ 3,887,000
|
1,145,280
|
1,729,170
|
2,547,500
|
|
Senior (≥6 yrs)
|
38
|
170,000 ~ 1,600,000
|
600,080
|
828,680
|
1,122,500
|
|
Middle (3-5 yrs)
|
33
|
100,000 ~ 500,000
|
251,170
|
331,530
|
411,430
|
|
Junior (<3)
|
13
|
60,000 ~ 234,000
|
121,310
|
161,000
|
n/a
|
|
PQE
|
Sample size
|
Annual compensation range RMB
|
Average 2009
|
Average of top 50% of samples
|
Average of top 20% of samples
|
|
Senior plus (>10)
|
7
|
290,000 ~ 890,000
|
631,430
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
Senior (≥6 yrs)
|
14
|
115,000 ~ 660,000
|
323,430
|
451,860
|
n/a
|
|
Middle (3-5 yrs)
|
19
|
75,000 ~ 400,000
|
202,320
|
278,300
|
n/a
|
|
Junior (<3)
|
7
|
60,000 ~ 200,000
|
122,430
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
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