Salary Survey

TotallyLegal 2024 Salary Survey Insights

Our 2024 Salary Survey of over 500 legal professionals reveals trends in salaries, bonuses, and newfound employee expectations. With 54% of our audience receiving a pay rise, 45% a bonus, the landscape of legal talent acquisition continues to face challenges in 2024. With return-to-office schemes, economic instability, reduced fee expectations, and ongoing cost-of-living concerns, salary continues to be the critical driver for legal professionals and should be a core component of every firm’s resourcing programme.

In a changing employment landscape, our 2024 Salary Survey Report helps employers shape informed, insightful attraction and retention strategies, based on current industry expectations, preferences, and push factors. Get an expert view of pay, bonuses, working patterns, and employee priorities – at every level of the legal sector.

Roles and Rewards: Salary by Job Title

General Counsel jobs continue to be our highest-paid position, earning an average salary of £114,583 – despite a 5% dip on last year’s figures.

2024 saw a reshuffle at the top of the table, with Partner jobs and Heads of Department swapping second and fourth positions. While average earnings for those in Heads of Department jobs fell from £91,776 to £85,151 since our previous survey, Partners enjoyed a 27% pay uplift to £104,868.

Other impressive rises include Conveyancer jobs (+45%), Legal Executives (+44%), Legal HR (+58%), and Litigator jobs (+21%). The latter two positions have shown particularly strong growth over the last five years, with 18% and 21% annual increases respectively.

Marketing/Business Development roles took the hardest hit, with a 41% year-on-year salary drop and a 4% overall pay decrease over the last five years. Similarly, Practice Managers earn 29% less this year and have experienced an average 3% decline since 2019.

Earnings and Expertise: Salary by Practice Area

Unlike 2023, when pay rose across almost every practice area, the past 12 months have delivered widespread salary fluctuations. IT/Telecoms holds the highest-paying spot, offering average earnings of £90,893, despite an 8% fall compared to last year’s figures.

Banking/Financial Services remains in second position, with annual salaries of £96,196 – a slight 2% dip from 2023. The UK’s ongoing green transition powered 15% pay increases across Energy/Environmental law, while Corporate law jobs (+24%) and Commercial Property jobs (+19%) enjoyed positive year-on-year growth. Other standout statistics include sizeable jumps within Wills & Probate (+33%) and Criminal law (+41%), bringing average yearly pay to £45,000 and £40,345 respectively.

In contrast, Media/Entertainment jobs saw earnings fall 41% from £82,500 to £48,846. Overall, this area has suffered sharp and sizable pay decline post-Covid. Following the boom of the pandemic, evolving consumer behaviour and persistent cost-of-living concerns have contributed to significant salary erosion.

Firm Financials: Salary by Company Type

After topping the salary table last year, US law firms tumble from first to fifth place in 2024. Average pay fell from £93,125 to £58,889, spotlighting a higher response from professionals in lower-level roles, including Legal Assistants (8%), Legal Secretaries (10%), and Legal PA jobs (19%).

Magic and Silver Circle firms, large, and medium firms place second, third, and fourth respectively, with average pay spanning £68,542 to £59,753.

In-House roles claim this year’s number-one spot, leading the way with annual earnings of £72,559 – positive news for the 48% of respondents who work within in-house legal teams.

This segment of in-house talent includes several of the sector’s top-paid roles, including 87% of General Counsel and 70% of Heads of Department.

Once again, small law firms occupy the bottom end of the scale. The 16% of respondents in this type of company earn an average salary of £45,529, up 1% compared to 2023 figures.

Money Mapping: Salary by Location

Australasia continues to offer the highest salary by location (£75,000), driven by 2024’s strong proportion of Associate respondents. However, pay slipped by 3% in this region and other overseas locations, including Europe (-13%) and the Middle East (-4%).

London – the working base for 39% of our audience – offers the UK’s leading average salary. However, earnings have slipped by 13% across the capital as a whole, painting a starkly different picture to our last report.

For a second year, legal jobs in Scotland saw double-digit pay growth, recording a substantial 22% uplift and an average income of £74,375 – in line with the country’s healthy representation of Associates, Lawyers, and In-House Counsel.

Following a 1% salary downturn last year, the North East boasts the most significant turnaround, with pay surging from £49,236 to £65,500.

The Midlands experienced the inverse. After encouraging growth in 2023, the region sustained a 13% salary drop, as average pay shrank from £63,583 to £55,345

Remote, Office-Based or Hybrid: Is Remote Working a Dealbreaker?

Flexibility is standard for most legal professionals and the majority (65%) of our audience have either a hybrid or remote working arrangement. Within this segment, the most common working pattern is 1-2 days in the office, with almost half (42%) of respondents falling into this category.

56% of our audience say a return-to office policy would be a deal breaker in their current role, with a clear gender-linked split.

Remote working is a make-or-break factor for the majority of our female audience. Women across all age categories say a return-to-work mandate would push them to find another role.

Remote working is most highly valued among 31-40-year-old females (68%). However, all other segments deliver comparable results, including 64% within the 41-50 age group.

For men, flexibility is prized most by 21-30-year-olds, with 61% saying they’d look elsewhere for remote working benefits.

Salary Supplements: Bonus by Job Title

45% of our audience received a bonus in 2024, with the odds most in favour of General Counsel and Legal HR jobs. 80% of these respondents secured a salary top-up in the past year, compared to 40% and 60% respectively in our previous survey.

Professionals in In-House Counsel jobs follow closely behind, with 74% securing a bonus – an uplift of 9% on last year. Perhaps surprisingly, just 23% of Lawyers and 32% of Solicitors received a bonus in the past 12 months.

More positively, Barristers reversed the downward trend of our past two surveys. 50% enjoyed extra earnings this year, in contrast to 22% in 2023 and 29% in 2022.

The Male/Female Split: Job Title and Pay by Gender

The legal profession’s overall gender gap narrowed slightly from 13% to 11% in 2024 and the gender balance remains strong across senior legal roles.

Despite minor lapses since our last report, women continue to be well-represented among General Counsel (45%), In-House Counsel (54%), and Lawyer (56%) roles.

Women outnumber men in Associate (59%) and Solicitor jobs (68%), and Barristers show a 50/50 split.

While Legal IT is still dominated by males (80%), Cost Drafting emerged as a completely maledominated category in 2024.

While there’s still much ground to be gained in terms of pay equality, 2024’s salary statistics display an arguably healthier balance.

Five years ago, males outearned females by 39%. This year, men typically take home £68,420, compared to £61,677 for women (11%).