I am the Managing Partner of Lexygen. Several recent posts and comments on LegallyIndia have been brought to my attention which purport to offer comment/information on the pay numbers at Lexygen. On going through those comments, I got the clear sense (as some of you may also have) that several of those commenters were adopting an approach of malicious and ridiculous embellishment of our pay numbers so that the very credibility of other comments, where our numbers were quoted more or less accurately, would also be tarnished. This kind of misinformation hurts aspiring candidates a great deal.
I am therefore, posting this to officially clear the air, and to help those of you lawyers and law students that are genuinely seeking credible and accurate info about our firm to help you make that choice as to whether you’d like to apply to us for a job or not. The accurate information is below, “from the horse’s mouth” - you all decide whether our pay structure is Tier 1, Tier 2 or Tier N, and most importantly, whether you’d like to consider applying to Lexygen or not.
Associate Entry Level Pay – We pay fresh law graduates a fixed retainer of INR 1.25 lakhs a month, or INR 15 lakhs per annum. We also pay a bonus that could range from 0 to INR 1.2 lakhs per annum. We hire fresh grads ONLY through our internship programme.
Senior Associate Entry Level Pay – We pay entry-level Senior Associates INR 24 lakhs to 27 lakhs per annum as fixed retainer. We also pay a bonus for entry level SAs which could range from 0 to INR 15 lakhs per annum.
Partner Pay – We don’t currently disclose our Partner pay publicly for various reasons. So, please don’t believe all those numbers and posts that claim our Partner pay to be INR 4 to 5 crores. It would be fair to say that currently, our Partner pay is not even close to those numbers. Our entry level fixed retainer for retained Partners is around INR 51 lakhs. The bonus can be quite huge there, but completely depends on performance.
Work-Life Balance – Yes, we DO pride ourselves on being a firm that offers reasonable work-life balance, but we also are a firm that does a LOT of great-quality work, so it does mean that we all have to put in the long and hard hours necessary for delivering at that level. But I can say with honesty that we do our best to be considerate of our people’s time, personal lives and health (physical and mental). We work very hard to retain our non-toxic environment and trust me, that’s not easy!
Hope this helps. All the best to all of you! Happy Diwali!
Really appreciate this transparency, much needed in this profession now. Would you mind sharing the billing targets I'd need to hit as an SA to qualify for a 15 lakhs bonus (for instance). Some firms like SRL put in an unachievable 5x goal which would be impractical for an SA1 to meet.
Generally, our guideline is that you cannot be paid (fixed retainer + bonus) an amount more than 3x of your recovered billings. Most times, people end up making a total pay-to-total recovered billings ratio of around 1 : 3.5. However, pay is not determined through a mathematical formula alone, as we believe that there are several non-quant factors that need to be factored into compensation - QUALITY of work on consistent basis (determined through feedback from clients and team leaders), demonstrated commitment to non-billing initiatives of the firm, keenness to mentor junior colleagues, whether external factors affected disproportionately one person's ability to meet the targets, and so on.
Compensation review can be complex and it's hard to make it completely objective, but we have a ratio of 75:25 between Quantitative (i.e., recovered billings) and non-Quantitative (i.e., subjective) factors. It may not be perfect, but we are still evolving it.
To give you some guidance on your entry level SA question, if you need to make total pay of around 40 lakhs (say, 25 fixed plus 15 bonus) p.a, you would typically need to bill and recover around 1.25 crores to 1.4 crores.
Sir I am not froom NLU and I was preparing for UPSC . i m now 27. can I still join law firms ? due to studies my grades are great. Kindly respond partner sir.
We hire from NLUs, we hire from non-NLUs. That is a total non-factor for us. Your age too. But we would typically look for decent academics and good internships in relevant work areas.
Yes, that was indeed a typo, thanks for pointing it out. We certainly can't afford to pay that amount per month, so it's a per annum number :-) Also, I must be a bit of a luddite, as I am not able to figure out how to edit my original post, so if the LI admins could please make this change, that'd be great. Thanks :-)
Wao. I completed my bachelor of law in 2021. I must say this Vijay Sir with the utmost respect that whether I will be selected or not, but now Lexygen firm has moved to TOP on my list, not because of the pay scale or any otherworldly thing. It is due to this message posted on this very forum where law students/lawyers seek or share information about various things. And the fact that the managing partner took the initiative to address the issue, not some Partners, is huge, and like me, there will be many fresh law graduates who will feel the same.
I think this is the first time, if I am not wrong, that a managing partner of a law firm has addressed the issue directly on a platform. (not on usual LinkedIn ) which shows genuineness. #Respect Disclaimer: I am not associated with the firm in any form; I am just a law graduate looking for a job.
Currently a SA in a tier I competition law team. I only hope other firms can match your firm in their transparency in matters of compensation. If Lexygen had a competition team, I would consider it in a heartbeat. It is really refreshing to see this attitude.
We don't do as much Competition work as we'd like to yet, but why don't you message me on LinkedIn and we can stay connected to explore this at the right time. Thanks.
I am a bit late to the party and was almost going to give up on a career in law (really considered starting in-house/MBA prep). As much as I love the thrill of being a lawyer, the disturbing work life balance in law firms was a harsh reality to come to terms with. Thank you for this, it gives me hope. If I am turn out to be half as empathetic and diligent (to maintain such a good work culture) as a partner as you, I would have considered myself successful!
That's a great and relevant question for the times. Since a lot of such good questions are coming up, we have decided to host a LIVE Q&A session on our social media pages - LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube at 5 pm IST this Friday. Below is the link to our Linkedin page that contains all the details. This LIVE Q&A session will be open to Indian qualified corporate transactional lawyers (all levels) and to law students aspiring to a career in corporate law. Please attend, and enrich the discussion with your great questions. Thank you.
Other law firm people, please take note of this. This is how a professional organisation should be run, taking feedback, responding to queries and effecting systemic changes. Not via the useless Townhalls.
Does anyone know if Lexygen still offer hybrid work? is it true that they recently hiked stipends for interns? if yes, what are the new stipend amounts
Yes, we do. 2 days a week of compulsory WFO. And we will review this periodically as things evolve.
On stipend, it is correct that a couple of months or so ago, we announced a significant enhancement to our stipend amounts. See our LinkedIn post for the details.
If only they opened an office in Delhi, would jump at the chance to join. Breath of fresh air compared to all these other firms which don't have an iota of transparency.
I know a couple of people who live in other cities but work with Lexygen. But I don't know if that is only because of WFH. Why don't you email and ask them.
Recently had a chat with someone who worked there previously. The firm is not even close to how it portrays on LI or Linkedin. The money is good but has extremely long working hours with some toxic people along with some unreasonable policies. Don't fall for this trap. Also time to introspect, Vijay!
While I appreciate your forthrightness and responsiveness, I am a bit puzzled by the fact that very sketchy information is available on your firm's website. Your website does not even have the names of your team members. When someone is considering a job opportunity, he/she would love to find out who all are working in the firm and at what level. Even linkedin only provide a handful of profiles which are working at lexygen, and no one other than you is designated as a partner. Is there any reason why this information is not public?
We have periodic discussions on reviewing the content of our website, and most of us agreed that we'd leave team members names/profiles out. That may change in future, or may not. But we will continue to review our approach from time to time. Just by the way, you are wrong that our website only lists me - it doesn't even list me or provide my profile, if that's any consolation :-)
Thanks also for sharing that IBLJ article on top-ranked Indian law firm websites - it doesn't surprise me at all that our website isn't ranked..........we hardly do any meaningful stuff to popularize our website, and it is certainly an area where we could look at improving ourselves.
As per you website, you only hire fresh graduates as interns, and al your recruitments are from this, which essentially means, you intend to pay nothing for the first few years to your associates, only with the label "intern" Hence the associate pay mentioned here is actually for those who spend 1-2-3 years working here equivalent to A3 or SA1, which is grossly underpaying after some years of penury
Not sure where you're reading that in our website? Our website basically states that internships are the ONLY channel through which we recruit fresh grads. That's a VERY different thing from saying we hire fresh grads ONLY AS interns.
Also, this point is again quite clearly made even in my original post above - "We hire fresh grads ONLY through our internship programme" . The compensation bands too are very clearly explained in my post, but for the sake of abundant clarity, "Associate Entry Level Pay" means "A0 Pay" and it is paid to fresh grads that we recruit.
I hope this clarification frees your mind from torturous thoughts of impending penury :-) All the best!
The fact that you have been so transparent about your pay scale and processes is really appreciated.
Had two questions for you:
(a) someone mentioned that no more does Lexygen hire fresh graduates solely from their internship program. Is the same true? Can one directly apply to the firm?
(b) Considering the fact that there's a hybrid model being followed at the firm (from what I've been able to gather), is the firm open to taking in final year students for virtual internships?
No, we don't do rocket science, so if you're a rocket scientist, please apply to ISRO :-)
But we do fairly focused work, and so yes, if you are a lateral, we look for very relevant work experience as a must-have. If you are an intern, then it's not a must-have but certainly a key differentiating factor if you have relevant prior internships experience.
(a) That is still the case - we still hire fresh graduates solely through our internship programme. The email address to apply is internship@lexygen.law
(b) It is true we are still operating on hybrid model. However, most interns we've had in the past 6+ months have interned in Bangalore with us physically. We can certainly consider exceptional candidates for virtual internships.
Do you take into account the candidate's scores in his/her 10 and 12 boards? Or is it solely done on the basis of their performance during the internship and CGPA during his/her Graduation? Hoping to hear back soon from your side.
I am therefore, posting this to officially clear the air, and to help those of you lawyers and law students that are genuinely seeking credible and accurate info about our firm to help you make that choice as to whether you’d like to apply to us for a job or not. The accurate information is below, “from the horse’s mouth” - you all decide whether our pay structure is Tier 1, Tier 2 or Tier N, and most importantly, whether you’d like to consider applying to Lexygen or not.
Associate Entry Level Pay – We pay fresh law graduates a fixed retainer of INR 1.25 lakhs a month, or INR 15 lakhs per annum. We also pay a bonus that could range from 0 to INR 1.2 lakhs per annum. We hire fresh grads ONLY through our internship programme.
Senior Associate Entry Level Pay – We pay entry-level Senior Associates INR 24 lakhs to 27 lakhs per annum as fixed retainer. We also pay a bonus for entry level SAs which could range from 0 to INR 15 lakhs per annum.
Partner Pay – We don’t currently disclose our Partner pay publicly for various reasons. So, please don’t believe all those numbers and posts that claim our Partner pay to be INR 4 to 5 crores. It would be fair to say that currently, our Partner pay is not even close to those numbers. Our entry level fixed retainer for retained Partners is around INR 51 lakhs. The bonus can be quite huge there, but completely depends on performance.
Work-Life Balance – Yes, we DO pride ourselves on being a firm that offers reasonable work-life balance, but we also are a firm that does a LOT of great-quality work, so it does mean that we all have to put in the long and hard hours necessary for delivering at that level. But I can say with honesty that we do our best to be considerate of our people’s time, personal lives and health (physical and mental). We work very hard to retain our non-toxic environment and trust me, that’s not easy!
Hope this helps. All the best to all of you! Happy Diwali!
Vijay Sambamurthi
Really appreciate this transparency, much needed in this profession now. Would you mind sharing the billing targets I'd need to hit as an SA to qualify for a 15 lakhs bonus (for instance). Some firms like SRL put in an unachievable 5x goal which would be impractical for an SA1 to meet.
Compensation review can be complex and it's hard to make it completely objective, but we have a ratio of 75:25 between Quantitative (i.e., recovered billings) and non-Quantitative (i.e., subjective) factors. It may not be perfect, but we are still evolving it.
To give you some guidance on your entry level SA question, if you need to make total pay of around 40 lakhs (say, 25 fixed plus 15 bonus) p.a, you would typically need to bill and recover around 1.25 crores to 1.4 crores.
Hope this helps.
Good luck!
That must be a typo!
For the first time a law firm partner honestly takes the effort to do clear the air. It's a good effort from him.
I think this is the first time, if I am not wrong, that a managing partner of a law firm has addressed the issue directly on a platform. (not on usual LinkedIn ) which shows genuineness.
#Respect
Disclaimer: I am not associated with the firm in any form; I am just a law graduate looking for a job.
But seriously, this kind of pay transparency is ahead of its times. We may see this from big law firms in India only after 5 years is my sense.
If it is true - Thank you sir. I wish you and your family a happy Diwali.
Really appreciate the transparency. Wanted to ask if Lexygen will have permanent remote work opportunities or is open to the idea of it?
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6863693525087846400/
On stipend, it is correct that a couple of months or so ago, we announced a significant enhancement to our stipend amounts. See our LinkedIn post for the details.
Please also read: https://law.asia/india-top-law-firm-websites/ on how the websites of Indian law firms have developed over the period of time.
Thanks also for sharing that IBLJ article on top-ranked Indian law firm websites - it doesn't surprise me at all that our website isn't ranked..........we hardly do any meaningful stuff to popularize our website, and it is certainly an area where we could look at improving ourselves.
Hence the associate pay mentioned here is actually for those who spend 1-2-3 years working here equivalent to A3 or SA1, which is grossly underpaying after some years of penury
Also, this point is again quite clearly made even in my original post above - "We hire fresh grads ONLY through our internship programme" . The compensation bands too are very clearly explained in my post, but for the sake of abundant clarity, "Associate Entry Level Pay" means "A0 Pay" and it is paid to fresh grads that we recruit.
I hope this clarification frees your mind from torturous thoughts of impending penury :-) All the best!
The fact that you have been so transparent about your pay scale and processes is really appreciated.
Had two questions for you:
(a) someone mentioned that no more does Lexygen hire fresh graduates solely from their internship program. Is the same true? Can one directly apply to the firm?
(b) Considering the fact that there's a hybrid model being followed at the firm (from what I've been able to gather), is the firm open to taking in final year students for virtual internships?
Try somewhere else.
But we do fairly focused work, and so yes, if you are a lateral, we look for very relevant work experience as a must-have. If you are an intern, then it's not a must-have but certainly a key differentiating factor if you have relevant prior internships experience.
Hope this clarifies. Good luck!
(a) That is still the case - we still hire fresh graduates solely through our internship programme. The email address to apply is internship@lexygen.law
(b) It is true we are still operating on hybrid model. However, most interns we've had in the past 6+ months have interned in Bangalore with us physically. We can certainly consider exceptional candidates for virtual internships.
Good luck!
Do you take into account the candidate's scores in his/her 10 and 12 boards? Or is it solely done on the basis of their performance during the internship and CGPA during his/her Graduation? Hoping to hear back soon from your side.