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Crying all the way to the bank

07 July 2023 / Sir Geoffrey Bindman KC
Issue: 8032 / Categories: Opinion , Legal aid focus , Profession
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The earnings of the legal profession are unfairly distributed: Sir Geoffrey Bindman KC weighs up how lawyers might contribute to the funding of our legal system

Newly-qualified solicitors in Allen & Overy and Linklaters have recently received the good news that their salaries are rising by 16% to £125,000. Their seniors in these and other firms in or close to the ‘magic circle’ doubtless receive proportionately higher rewards, culminating perhaps in the £4.94m paid in the year to April 2022 to the highest earning partner in Clifford Chance (as reported by the Law Society Gazette, 17 January 2023). The Gazette had previously reported on 5 August 2022 that hourly rates for partners in magic circle firms have now reached between £1,000 and £1,500. Newly-qualified solicitors in those firms charge up to £600 an hour. Total revenue of the top 50 UK firms now exceeds £16bn a year.

By contrast, solicitors whose clients are funded by legal aid are paid according to a complex

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Gilson Gray—Linda Pope

Gilson Gray—Linda Pope

Partner joins family law team inLondon

Jackson Lees Group—five promotions

Jackson Lees Group—five promotions

Private client division announces five new partners

Taylor Wessing—Max Millington

Taylor Wessing—Max Millington

Banking and finance team welcomes partner in London

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Barristers Ben Keith of 5 St Andrew’s Hill and Rhys Davies of Temple Garden Chambers use the arrest of Simon Leviev—the so-called Tinder Swindler—to explore the realities of Interpol red notices, in this week's NLJ
Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys [2025] has upended assumptions about who may conduct litigation, warn Kevin Latham and Fraser Barnstaple of Kings Chambers in this week's NLJ. But is it as catastrophic as first feared?
Lord Sales has been appointed to become the Deputy President of the Supreme Court after Lord Hodge retires at the end of the year
Limited liability partnerships (LLPs) are reportedly in the firing line in Chancellor Rachel Reeves upcoming Autumn budget
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