Hey,
Reading these threads on LI, I feel anxious about how i will land up in a good law firm with a good package. I come from private law school which does not emphasizes on skills you need to get into a law firm. After reading your thread, the feeling of giving up has vanished a little tbh but I personally have found a ray of hope to work my way out. Even after 3 years of COVID, the situation is same with law firms. Not only law firms but with us as individuals too. as wee sort to blame firms for hiring in the basis of contact with do not polish the skills we need. Anyways, i wanted to thank you for giving the right knowledge which every law student needs.

Quite low. An SA will get what an A1 gets at a top tier firm. Not necessarily because the SA is not good or is not billing but because performance is not rewarded. Partners who have decent flow may be happier as they get decent associates at a fraction of the cost. Stay for a while to get training from a good partner, if you must. But dont stay too long.

Good boy, 37.1 "Let me help".
I came here to anticipate my son's fate. Passed in 2019, placement cell sent him to Mulla House (not mulla and mulla cb&c), now with 2y 5m will appear at the final interview in a Tier 2 tomorrow.
Found a lot of bad boys here, till I reached 37.1 .. your words were like a balm. No one knows and tells a non-nlu on how to prepare. Though my son's a doughty chap, (from a heritage college which gave India a few CJIs,) but is nowhere near like a creepy worm that I found here.

Thanks again "Let me help".

-- An anxious dad.

2018 PA compensation:

Annual retainer (post September 2018 increment) INR 47.40 lakhs.

Bill share @ 10% tied to recoveries and proportion of hourly billing (Forex vs. Locex) versus fixed fee assignments.

Bonus capped at INR 8 lakhs and actual tied to recovery of at least 2.5X, plus kissing the EP’s arse (which I never did). On a two years’ average, between INR 4-5 lakhs.

If you worked for Bombay Baniya, the lucrative nature of your assigned work and compensation largely depended on how malleable and moisturised your lips were. And yes, size did matter, north of the equator.

Delhi (Corporate):
A0 - 30K per month (upto 2 months of pay as bonus possible but don't count on it)
A1 - 45K per month (upto 2 months of pay as bonus possible but don't count on it)

Bangalore (Corporate):

A0 - 40K per month (upto 2 months of pay as bonus possible but don't count on it)
A1 - 50K per month (upto 2 months of pay as bonus possible but don't count on it)

JSA A2 actual pay (in Rs. lakhs)

Fixed- 1.25*12
8%-5 lakhs (this is the game changer. If you bill a crore a year, you get 8 lakhs)
Bonus -4 lakhs
Total- 23.8 lakhs

(due to covid, the firm did not have the annual retreat but that is another 1.5 lakhs towards you by the firm)

For A3, add another 2.2 lakhs a year

A0s start at 16L pa (1.15 pm + upto 2.2 bonus). Based on performance, as an A1 and A2, you can expect a 10-20% jump in both variable and fixed comp (as 18.1 points out). Obviously, Covid messed everything up and proper increments were not seen since 2019. A 7% temp increment on base pay was given to counsels back in April 2021 (pending appraisal for 2020-21) - which was funny because 2019-20 appraisals were not considered for the 2020-21 increments.
I hope MS and RKL open their purse strings to retain talent - whoever chooses to stay/go with them.

Agreed. The higher end of the range should be 10-15% higher even at the A3/SA1 level, in normal circumstances. I think COVID has affected things and got fees to slip within this range at some Tier 1s (not Trilegal though, which has actually paid out more than entitlement on account of the extra COVID pay).

Dear Let me help you :)

I do feel that I let my feeling get better of me and wrote something irrelevant here. however, nice of you and others to not feel annoyed by it rather took time to instill a ray of hope in me difficult times of my life. I do feel this perhaps very good for someone to take time out of life to explore different things and ideas. As many of the Normal law school kids do not get such disposable time with them, unlike them I come from laid back college like GLC which has provided us a good amount of time to explore different paths and ideas. while I did like the whole idea of the way GLC operates but ideally for me my last 2 year of law school was very important for me to focus on career after coming to the full circle of finding what suits me or not but as the faith would have it nothing went like the way I hope.

but let me admit the positive outlook that is embedded in your vision makes me go one more mile ahead, once again. I was staying afloat, looking for opportunities on every job desk board like Linkedin and others, still having to find nothing at the end of the day. I still try and try, look and search for it. not that I would stop but positivity in me has taken a hit. I do agree ma'am/sir that I should be open to more non-conventional work as well but as you tend to move ahead in your life you get more averse to trying something new. But taking a leaf out of your wisdom. I will put a separate post like that to learn new things and ideas to help myself and others who may be traveling in the same direction but at different horizons.

Also, I wish I had a mentee like you to be the guide that everyone needs.

will look for you there on the new post to help me more.

Thank You!

Dear Job Seeker,

I work with a leading law firm - will not get into position, seniority etc. I come from a non-law background, and have really struggled at every stage - sub-par law school, no peers or family in the profession - have printed my CV and walked to reception desks of law firms to give them, followed up with reception desks for an interview call and called up distant relatives for help in the faint hope that they know someone in the profession. Started off with what probably is a Tier-6 law firm today practically working for free, and moved amongst Tier 5/Tier 6 law firms and got additional qualifications before getting my break - and have blessed enough to be able to show that a non-law school (and non-law background) determined lawyer from a sub-par law school can consistently do (reasonably) well with the best in the profession. It is a marathon and not a sprint - if you keep at it and constantly innovate and improve yourself, opportunities will come to you. It may take days, weeks, months or even years- you will get your chances. Wait for them, and then grab them with the hunger and determination you have. Best of luck.

Dear Anonymous Job Seeker,

First up, you have not failed anyone. If you are a law student of a five year program, you are among the 8.15% of India's population who is graduate, and among top 1% who is fortunate enough to hold a professional degree like LLB. Congratulate yourself, because you have achieved much, and you are yet to graduate.

On top of all these things, you have graduated in the best time of our lives. There has never been a better time to be a lawyer, never has been a better time to be aspiring and to dream of a better life. There are opportunities if you have the patience and grit. Please put up a separate thread as a 'Job Seeker', and ask about what you can do, and I will clue you in on the opportunities available, as an entrepreneur, freelancer, writer, etc. among others. As someone who understands the legal job ecosystem better than most, I can lay out for you your game plan if you put in details on your background. If you put yourself out there for people to look up on your LinkedIn, I am sure you will receive constructive remarks, negative maybe, but constructive, that can help you better yourself and get what you want. This is better than wallowing in self-pity.

Having said that, let me highlight that I come from a private law school. I lacked polish in language, conduct, background and made it up with hustle. I hustled for myself and I hustled for my batch mates and juniors to get ourselves a break in India's corporate firms. But I also witnessed. I witnessed that none of the students in my batch who wanted to work for someone, were without work. I am talking about a sub-standard private law school. Everyone who wants to get work, gets work. Do you know what consistent cry is accross legal chambers, law firms, in-house departments? - We do not have good talent, there are no good lawyers available. The demand is there, making the supply expensive. This is where you can think about coming down from the high horse, figuring out a interest area related job and jumping into the work. Few of my batch mates of 2019 who started jobs at 20-30K (scored at an average of 3-4 months after graduation) now make moderately well between 1 lac and above. They jumped into their interest areas, put in hard work, made themselves indispensable and developed acumen.

Don't worry about money, money will flow with dedication and hard work. Impress the right mentors, impress them with your skill, creativity, zeal and hard work. Worry about whether at the end of ten years in this profession, will you be able to look back and say - 'Cheers, I lived my dream?'.

[i]At an average you have 40 more years of work ahead of you, pace yourself, don't loose hope in the short term only to loose in the long term. Cheers.[/I]

The amount of depression is immeasurable compared to figures showing here. While all of you discussed the pay scale of the firms one is at. I am sure our mental state transcend every horizons of it. As I read all of it, i see the time which reads 3 AM in night, in a room full of dark, acknowledging the fact that I would have no job probably for atleast 6-7 month post graduation. Seeing how i failed myself to help my parents. This is very disturbing. The problem is not that i fear the struggle but i am afraid of how long it continues and the ripple affect it would have.

Batch of 2021