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Recently, the sense of financial shame has become apparent. Jinshi has also talked about many securities firms (especially investment banks and research firms), private equity firms, public equity firms, trusts, banks, clubs, etc., which are collectively in the process of large-scale salary cuts and layoffs. Today, let's take a look at law firms, which also serve the capital market. They are also collectively in disarray, with salary cuts and layoffs!

Let's take a look at a widely circulated picture. At first glance, the salary is high, even crushing the salary level of securities companies and public funds. The first-year salary exceeds 21k, which is absolutely high. I wonder what's there to be defensive about?

First of all, this is the last stronghold of the Golden Circle Law Firm. Han Kun Law Firm has also been conquered. Previously, the salary of a first-year law firm was 30,000 yuan, and then it was defaulted to 25,000 yuan. Now it has completely dropped to just over 20,000 yuan, and the salary has directly fallen to 7 years ago. The extra 10,000 yuan may be to retain the first place in the Golden Circle Law Firm.

Secondly, a first-year lawyer does not mean you are a first-year lawyer just because you have been working for the first year. Generally, a first-year lawyer needs at least three years of work experience. Currently, some have 4-6 years of experience, and some have 5-8 years of experience. At present, EL (first-year lawyer) is equivalent to someone who has worked for 5 years and has strong work experience.

Third, the most shocking thing is that the salary cap is 50k. In fact, the salary of seniors with more than 10 years of work experience has been almost halved (the figure below is Dahui’s 21-year salary table). The salary of salaried partners used to be as high as 800,000+, but now it has been completely halved.

DaHui is a member of the famous Golden Circle, which means the law firms with the most money, and in fact the law firms that offer first-year lawyers a salary of 30,000 yuan. In 2021, there were six law firms, including DaHui, Fangda, King & Wood Mallesons, Tiantong, Shihui, and Han Kun. Now, only Han Kun and Fangda can offer first-year lawyers a salary of 20,000 yuan. Some boutique firms, such as Merits, have drastically cut salaries by about 30%, and first-year lawyers only receive about 15k yuan.

After talking about salary cuts, let's take a look at the current miserable salary situation of legal students entering law firms. When Junhe cut salaries in March, Jinshi wrote that at that time, Junhe's first-year salary was reduced to 240,000, or 20k per month, while the salary of fresh LE (should be legal assistant) was only 130,000, equivalent to 10,000 per month, and that was before tax. Many law firms no longer recruit junior lawyers, and all positions are paralegal.

Now, you don’t have to worry. You may not be able to get 130,000. Many teams have started to recruit paralegals for 10k. Paralegals are similar to assistant positions, but it is difficult for them to become lawyers. They usually do dirty work. I even heard that Junhe’s paralegals are divided into 9 levels, which is a bit like the outsourcing level classification of a certain large company.

Major law firms have collectively cut salaries, with salaries falling back to levels of seven years ago. The reasons behind this are, firstly, the downward market conditions and a lack of projects; secondly, many law firms actually have close ties with the capital market.

For example, Han Kun mainly deals with PE/VC, but now the primary market is ignored; for example, DaHui mainly deals with private equity, which is the same as Han Kun; Source Code laid off employees, and Capital Today laid off the primary team, which all illustrate the miserable situation of the primary market;

For example, Shihui is engaged in the Internet and new economy. These days, apart from Xiaohongshu, it seems difficult to see any well-known unicorns. For example, Tongli is engaged in public funds. Now public funds are cutting salaries and product issuance is difficult, and the situation is also bleak.

The current situation is that there is a wave of resignations from red circle and boutique firms, because people feel that 24/7 on-call jobs are no longer cost-effective;One trend is that bankruptcy teams have become a new outlet. After all, many companies cannot pay wages and cannot raise funds, and have gone bankrupt. It is reported that Han Kun welcomed the entire bankruptcy team to join, and King & Wood Mallesons has improved the overall treatment of the bankruptcy team.