I just hope that this stops for all practice areas. No lawyer should leave India. Indian legal market is growing, stay here. For gods sake, UK firms need to stop hiring, not even a single person from India.
I’ve been lurking around and in touch with multiple people connected to the market. Not looking good for us M&A people atleast till the end of this year. Market was hot till about 3 months ago, but again like you pointed out, more for funds and capital markets lawyers. Simply because the supply of M&A and corp lawyers is in abundance there and they don’t need to staff Indian lawyers for those roles.
NQ salary of 107.5 k pounds after taxes comes at around 65k pounds.
Use any cost of living comparison and you will find that 65k pounds in London does not translate to more than 16 lakhs in Delhi or 20 lakhs in Mumbai.
Also, look at the long term prospects, even though NQ salary is high, rise in salary as you progress is very low. 5 PQE in Linkalters are making 160k which after taxes comes at around 100k.
100k is again not more than 32 lakhs in Delhi and 40 lakhs in Mumbai.
Money wise, you are far better off in India than in London. But, London as a city is hands down way better than Delhi/Mumbai
Even if you use the cost comparison calculator for UK and India, GBP 100k-160k (US firms in London do pay that much for entry level roles will be at least 2.3-3 times that of your India salary (assuming you earn INR 1.5 lakhs per month on a gross basis). Without cost comparison factor, its almost 7-10 times of your Indian salary.
Also, given that UK taxes the individuals earning more than GBP 150k one can safely assume they will be within the top bracket of fee earners in UK.
Yes, this exodus is happening because of two reasons:
a) During the pandemic, when travel to Australia / NZ became super difficult, many Aussie / NZ lawyers left the UK to go back home, and the pipeline of Aussie / NZ lawyers to MC firms decreased significantly. Indian lawyers were best placed to fill this gap (especially because Indian law firm culture became even more toxic during the pandemic / work from home days).
b) Like someone pointed out above, these practices are easily transferable globally. There is no jurisdiction-specific experience necessary really.
And to the person who said T1 lawyers live like royals in India but peasants in the UK, you are very right on the first count, and extremely wrong on the second.
I lived in Zone 2 with a very short commute to work. My accommodation was not the Ritz, but it was quite comfortable. Maybe you are exaggerating this a tad bit?
You sure 107.5K GBP, the salary of NQ associates in MCs, which puts you within the top 5 percent of earners in the UK, salvages only a 'cramped dog house somewhere in the outskirts of London? If the answer is yes according to you, I suggest that you think again.
Well these two and Cap Marks are the practice areas which are basically globally transferable. Apart from basic compliances, transactions throughout the globe are same under these 3 practice areas.
A Tier 1 Law Firm lawyer lives like a king/queen in India. The same person will have to stay in a cramped dog house somewhere in the outskirts of London. Weather in UK makes your life extra depressed.
^ this is true but tbh no foreign land or any other promised land is worth doing cap marks IMO. It’s so dreadful I feel kind of envious of lawyers who actually manage to like it ?! If that makes sense
Cap marks too. If you are an Indian cap marks lawyer, then you can land a job in a foreign firm pretty easily now. 4 people whom I know have made the jump since last November.
Maybe you can use this index. It takes into account the taxation too
NQ salary of 107.5 k pounds after taxes comes at around 65k pounds.
Use any cost of living comparison and you will find that 65k pounds in London does not translate to more than 16 lakhs in Delhi or 20 lakhs in Mumbai.
Also, look at the long term prospects, even though NQ salary is high, rise in salary as you progress is very low. 5 PQE in Linkalters are making 160k which after taxes comes at around 100k.
100k is again not more than 32 lakhs in Delhi and 40 lakhs in Mumbai.
Money wise, you are far better off in India than in London. But, London as a city is hands down way better than Delhi/Mumbai
Also, given that UK taxes the individuals earning more than GBP 150k one can safely assume they will be within the top bracket of fee earners in UK.
Cheers.
a) During the pandemic, when travel to Australia / NZ became super difficult, many Aussie / NZ lawyers left the UK to go back home, and the pipeline of Aussie / NZ lawyers to MC firms decreased significantly. Indian lawyers were best placed to fill this gap (especially because Indian law firm culture became even more toxic during the pandemic / work from home days).
b) Like someone pointed out above, these practices are easily transferable globally. There is no jurisdiction-specific experience necessary really.
And to the person who said T1 lawyers live like royals in India but peasants in the UK, you are very right on the first count, and extremely wrong on the second.
Maybe you are exaggerating this a tad bit?