Heard a lot about Litigation pay for Senior Advocates in Metros. How much does a High Court designated Senior Advocate make in a Tier 2/3 Cities? We are talking about traditional Civil/Criminal Lawyers who have been designated as a senior.
Cities like, Allahabad, Cuttuck, Patna, Chandigarh, Jabalpur etc. Can someone describe how is thier revenue model?
Anything from 50 lakhs to 20 crores for good litigators. Really wide range. Same for the (non designated) senior litigating lawyers in cities without a High Court (and who do not travel for HC work). 50 lakhs in (say) Kolhapur is worth a lot more than it is in Mumbai/Delhi - and that is the bare minimum for a good litigator of some standing there.
It starts out as peanuts but the growth can be exponential.
For instance, there are cities which are industrial hubs with MNCs around and with substantially heavy commercial litigation (and - unlike in High Courts - actual trials!). The MNC may engage a law firm (which does its other regular work) who may in turn pass the work to its litigator-of-choice in the tier-2 city. Good money in that. Other than that, there can be some very heavy property litigation as well. Also, many senior (I mean, non-designated) lawyers will have small law firms in themselves - they will do everything in the matter and some have also developed long-standing relationships with corporate clients. It isn't unheard of to have more than 10 hearings go on (10 effective) for these "mini firms".
The downside is that the floor I mentioned (the approx. 50 lakhs figure) applies to the "good litigator of standing" and the multi-crore mark will really be reserved for very few indeed.
I can speak for Allahabad High Court (NOT the Lucknow Bench).
A senior designation doesn't impact so much, the lawyers are generally also earning around the same figure otherwise. The figure can vary - I know seniors who charge 1L appearance/case (depending on affordability of litigant and kind of matter) and the highest I've heard someone charge is roundabout 3.5L appearance/case (the senior-most designated senior).
Since NOIDA falls under Alld HC's jurisdiction, it is the main money pot for civil-commercial lawyers. Most real estate cases come from there. Apart from that I think it is mostly service matters that are done frequently. There's also an NCLT Bench here, so companies either engage arguing counsel from Delhi who fly in, or well-known names from Allahabad - designated seniors get an opportunity to print here as well.
Criminal lawyers of course make potloads with the right clients. Allahabad is the seat to a lot of political movement, parties are always trying to one up each other through filing cases against each other - leads to a lot of criminal law work, esp bail and 482 apps.
Until recently, Anticipatory Bail did not apply to UP, so the workaround to that was a 482 application. However, now anticipatory bail is available, and that work has gone to the Trial Courts, away from the HC.
Distances are negligible, quality of life is peaceful, so the money in relative terms is much more than the money in Tier 1 cities. A meal for two at the most expensive restaurant won't exceed 2k (on the higher side). Property costs are a bit on the higher side relatively, but much lower than Delhi Bombay.
But what is also true is that seniors or relatively experienced advocates in these cities are stingy as f***.
Juniors are often paid lesser than daily wage labourers and it becomes a test of endurance - who can last longer and build a practice parallely. Sometimes pay is as low as 8-10K a month in tier 3 cities. If its a lawyer with a student loan / family responsibility and building a practice is'nt working out, they'll stick around longer to support and end up being more exploited.
Advice someone shared - only stick with a senior until as long as essential. Always try to set up on your own ASAP. Goes a long way.
Cities like, Allahabad, Cuttuck, Patna, Chandigarh, Jabalpur etc.
Can someone describe how is thier revenue model?
In small cities. I have heard that the fees is peanuts. Never expected this much.
For instance, there are cities which are industrial hubs with MNCs around and with substantially heavy commercial litigation (and - unlike in High Courts - actual trials!). The MNC may engage a law firm (which does its other regular work) who may in turn pass the work to its litigator-of-choice in the tier-2 city. Good money in that. Other than that, there can be some very heavy property litigation as well. Also, many senior (I mean, non-designated) lawyers will have small law firms in themselves - they will do everything in the matter and some have also developed long-standing relationships with corporate clients. It isn't unheard of to have more than 10 hearings go on (10 effective) for these "mini firms".
The downside is that the floor I mentioned (the approx. 50 lakhs figure) applies to the "good litigator of standing" and the multi-crore mark will really be reserved for very few indeed.
Indore, Jabalpur, Jodhpur, Jaipur and Lucknow.
A senior designation doesn't impact so much, the lawyers are generally also earning around the same figure otherwise. The figure can vary - I know seniors who charge 1L appearance/case (depending on affordability of litigant and kind of matter) and the highest I've heard someone charge is roundabout 3.5L appearance/case (the senior-most designated senior).
Since NOIDA falls under Alld HC's jurisdiction, it is the main money pot for civil-commercial lawyers. Most real estate cases come from there. Apart from that I think it is mostly service matters that are done frequently. There's also an NCLT Bench here, so companies either engage arguing counsel from Delhi who fly in, or well-known names from Allahabad - designated seniors get an opportunity to print here as well.
Criminal lawyers of course make potloads with the right clients. Allahabad is the seat to a lot of political movement, parties are always trying to one up each other through filing cases against each other - leads to a lot of criminal law work, esp bail and 482 apps.
Until recently, Anticipatory Bail did not apply to UP, so the workaround to that was a 482 application. However, now anticipatory bail is available, and that work has gone to the Trial Courts, away from the HC.
Distances are negligible, quality of life is peaceful, so the money in relative terms is much more than the money in Tier 1 cities. A meal for two at the most expensive restaurant won't exceed 2k (on the higher side). Property costs are a bit on the higher side relatively, but much lower than Delhi Bombay.
But what is also true is that seniors or relatively experienced advocates in these cities are stingy as f***.
Juniors are often paid lesser than daily wage labourers and it becomes a test of endurance - who can last longer and build a practice parallely. Sometimes pay is as low as 8-10K a month in tier 3 cities. If its a lawyer with a student loan / family responsibility and building a practice is'nt working out, they'll stick around longer to support and end up being more exploited.
Advice someone shared - only stick with a senior until as long as essential. Always try to set up on your own ASAP. Goes a long way.