UK Lawyers Fear For Salary Levels Following EU Expansion

by Robin Pilgrim, LawAndTax-News.com, London

12 May 2004

According to a survey recently conducted by UK law firm, Lawrence Graham, the salaries received by the country's lawyers may be under threat following the accession of 10 new member states to the European Union.

The London firm reportedly polled its counterparts in 13 EU countries to assess the earnings at mid-tier firms for both newly qualified and experienced lawyers.

The Law Gazette, which reported on the survey results, revealed that whilst the United Kingdom returned the highest figures at EUR70,000 (£47,000) and EUR105,000 (£71,000) for the respective positions, these were undercut significantly by several of the newly acceded countries.

According to Lawrence Graham, Polish and Czech newly qualified lawyers were paid the lowest amount at EUR6,000 and EUR7,500.

For lawyers qualified for three to four years, the pattern was similar, with Polish professionals receiving EUR7,200, and their Greek, Cypriot, and Czech contemporaries receiving EUR17,000, EUR18,000, and EUR22,000 respectively.

Speaking to the Law Gazette with regard to the survey results, Lawrence Graham partner, Yvonne Gallagher observed that:

"Attention has focused on the impact of enlargement on blue-collar workers, but this suggests the effect could be much greater on the professions, where people tend to be fluent in English in the accession states, have comparable training and experience, and yet work more flexibly for much lower salaries."

She went on to add:

"In the short term, there may be more applicants for jobs from outside the UK, but longer term we may see skilled work being outsourced to cheaper markets and downward pressure on UK salaries."

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