ABSTRACT
The City of London seems to have almost a magnetic quality in attracting new recruits to the solicitors’ profession. In the 1999 intake of trainee solicitors, the top 10 firms by size sought to recruit 930 trainees – over 20% of the training contracts registered for that year.1 It seems improbable that such a large proportion of new entrants would choose to relocate to the City of London, but as with the Bar, the better opportunities for employment are in London and the best quality commercial work finds its way there. The work is unquestionably well paid. Recent advertisements for newly qualified solicitors in the London firms suggest salaries of between £40,000 and £45,000 are now common in the City firms,2 and competition from the US firms based in London is driving this figure upwards.3 This escalating wage level is a curious phenomenon. Recent surveys of large law firms indicate that there are now serious ‘quality of life’ issues facing such firms, and that staff retention is a major headache.4 If, as the firms say, solicitors leave because of concern at the quality of their lives within law, then more money is hardly likely to address this problem. Indeed, a higher wage bill implies more or higher quality work must be sold to the client unless profitability is to reduce. And, in partnerships, falling profitability has a direct effect on the income of the owners of the business and is never welcome.
