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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