It is not just bankers who are enjoying the bonuses that have come with the boom in City deals — the number of lawyers earning more than £1 million has exceeded a thousand for the first time.
Senior partners at some of Britain’s Magic Circle law firms have seen their pay soar in the past year, as corporate takeovers and stock-market flotations have boosted their earnings.
Pay at several big firms routinely exceeds £1 million, and at Slaughter and May 119 partners were paid an average of just over £2 million last year, with one partner picking up £2.8 million.
Legal Business, which compiled the figures, said that US law firms paid some star performers in their London offices more than £3 million. “The London legal market is phenomenally successful. Only New York can currently rival the City,” said Alex Novarese, editor-in-chief of Legal Business.
Partners at second- and third-tier law firms have also seen their pay jump.
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The 41 partners of Winckworth Sherwood, which is one of the main legal advisers on the HS2 high-speed rail project, saw their pay jump 44 per cent in the latest financial year, to £742,000 on the back of that and other lucrative contracts, such as its retainer with Sainsbury’s.
“The corporate partners who had to lay low for some years are starting to unfurl their wings a little bit and ruffle their feathers,” said Robert Ivens, the head of legal at Marks & Spencer.
The combined income of Britain’s 100 top firms is higher than ever, and their total revenue in the past 12 months exceeded £20 billion.
“While the Magic Circle has coped respectably since the 2008 banking crisis ushered in a far tougher market, 2014 has provided another reminder that well-run law firms can achieve superb performance,” said Mr Novarese.
Yet, despite their earnings, Chris Cole, at Towry, an investment manager specialising in advising the wealthy, said many lawyers still struggled to become “financially independent”.
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Unlike their counterparts in finance, pay in the legal profession suffers from none of the restrictions being imposed on bankers’ earnings, which from next year will be subject to a cap that will prevent them being paid bonuses of more than twice their annual salary.