We want LI to be one of the friendliest places on the internet, where lawyers and law students help each other with their career related queries and occasionally discuss other stuff that might affect their lives too. In other words:
1. Be kind, respectful and helpful to each other.
2. Be bona fide, truthful, genuine and curious.
3. Assume the best intention of others.
Therefore, in using the site, you must agree to do your best to uphold these community guidelines.
Note that what you find here is written and moderated by anonymous people on the internet.
Therefore everything you read here is very likely unverified, rumour, speculation and/or downright false.
In continuing to read anything here, you must therefore agree not to take anything you read here as factual and that you will exercise due caution, diligence and common sense before acting on any information you may come across here.
You also agree to report any inaccurate or malicious comments with the buttons. Moderators take action within 24 hours, as required and appropriate under law.
Our full terms and conditions apply too.
Do you solemnly agree to all of the above?
Therefore, the next generation will not be the ones who speak/argue well, but the ones who embrace science and tech and know how to leverage them.
Ps: No trolls please. Genuine answers only.
Amazon 3PQE is a joke.
Starting level as Amazon Legal Team is Associate Corporate Counsel where they expect people to have 5 to 7 PQE.
Β£2.4k rent is on the low side. There are lots of variables of course, but I'm guessing you are either living outside London and commuting (tough with MC hours) or in a 2 bed flat somewhere. That figure is what you'd probably spend for a modest 2 bed flat in a nice area or a nice two bed flat in a much less nice area (on average). Your kid is probably fairly young too - you probably cannot live in a flat like that long term (although car suggests you probably are living outside London and commuting which means you may have a bigger place).
As a rough estimate, a nice family house in a decent area will be around double that (if not a lot more) - and that will come from after tax income. Also, in the long term you won't want to be dependent on rent and will need to have saved the deposit on a mortgage which is another game entirely...
Ditto school fees - Β£2k per month is for one child. If you have 2 (or god forbid, 3) - well, that's all coming from after tax income and at your income level that's near enough 50% tax.
Also, unless you are in the tiny minority who makes MC partner, or makes it to the top of an inhouse job (ie, MD legal at a bank), your income is already pretty close to topping out. You can still go up, but you are not going to double your income.
In short - your costs are going to keep going up, and your income is probably not. You don't really have any slack left for the long term unless you make partner or your spouse starts earning as much as you do. Forget saving a lot - you'll be lucky if you can just hang on to your current lifestyle especially if you have more children.
I don't mean to suggest you're badly off or anything - you're making a high income and living a comfortable lifestyle - and if necessary you can take kids out of private school etc - I'm just pointing out that one does not come to London (especially with a family) to save money..
-> UK's economy has been struggling so there are less jobs, and a lot of competition from students all over the world to do 4 year traineeship and be paralegals.
-> US has the jobs and the economy but there are too many barriers to entry.
If you're looking for a way out an MBA has plenty of finance, M&A and strategy options but this also comes with a grind as the market is very competitive. But at least you can find people willing to interview.
- I get Β£10.9k in-hand (8pqe, magic circle).
- Spouse earns Β£2k (unless your spouse is also a lawyer/tech professional, in my experience it is difficult to find high paying roles in most other industries in the UK).
Main outgoings:
- Β£2.4k rent
- Β£2k child school (includes fees and afterschool club (i.e. childcare from 3-6pm))
- Β£1k in non-discretionary costs (council tax, gorceries, utilities)
- Β£400 for house help (once/week cook + cleaner)
- Β£800 for the car (EMI, insurance, fuel, parking)
- Β£1-1.5k in discretionary spending
- Β£1k for travel (normalised and covers annual holidays, weekend getaways + trip to India)
I support SILF.
Although I had no idea about the 8-10 crore PA income 15 to 20 years in. That's huge
The Trinamool Congress filed a counter-petition, alleging that the central agency has seized documents on the party's strategy and ideology -- a claim the ED has denied.
"The ED is bullying. They have stormed. They have searched," TMC Counsel Menaka Guruswamy told the single-judge bench of Justice Suvra Ghosh today, to which ED counsel SV Raju said, "No need for drama".
"We are not on caveat. We are not party in the SC case... In this matter, I want to make three points. One -- we are not party in the Supreme Court. Two -- data belonging to a political party was searched. We want our political data saved. Political data forms political ideology. Political jurisprudence is under question today. Three -- We respectfully request our political data be returned," Guruswamy said.
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/trinamool-probe-agency-petitions-over-i-pac-dismissed-over-to-top-court-10748834
Rare example of a senior counsel invoking jurisprudential theories in court. The term βpolitical jurisprudenceβ is used by modern legal theorists and means as as follows:
Political jurisprudence is a field of legal theory that views law as inseparable from politics, analyzing how governmental authority is formed and maintained, and understanding legal decisions as part of a political process where judges act as political actors influenced by societal forces to institutionalize political preferences
. It examines the fundamental relationship between law and the political (the way authority is imagined and established) rather than just politics (day-to-day governance), focusing on concepts like the State, sovereignty, and freedom, often tracing its roots to thinkers like Hobbes, Rousseau, and Schmitt.
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/6A485F44A1B9DBB95B2A92FA8AAE39E3/S2071832223000445a.pdf/the-political-jurisprudence-of-paul-w-kahn.pdf
Cerebral arguments by a cerebral lawyer. β₯οΈ The bar benefits by having NLSIU-Oxford toppers and hopefully this is the future direction of advocacy in India. π
surviving is not the solution or modus operandi
living is
surviving in the initial years is fine, but not all the time.
Or other parts of their lives suffer.
Looking for a decent pay as well.
A few points that may help you frame this:
1. Context matters, but patterns matter more.
In law firms, weekend calls, informal check-ins, or social invitations can exist on a wide spectrumβfrom genuinely work-related to clearly inappropriate. Any single incident can often be explained away. When multiple anecdotes from unrelated sources point in the same direction, it is reasonable to treat that as data, not gossip.
2. Discomfort is not an accusation.
You are not required to label someoneβs conduct as misconduct to decide it is not a work environment you want. Many juniors struggle because they believe they must prove wrongdoing to justify discomfort. You donβt. Professional boundaries are allowed to be personal boundaries.
3. Yes, the profession has normalized boundary-blurringβespecially around powerful individuals.
This is changing, but unevenly. Historically, success and seniority have often insulated people from scrutiny. That does not make the behaviour acceptable; it only explains why it persists. Being aware of this dynamic early is an advantage, not cynicism.
4. Background research should absolutely go beyond reputation and deal lists.
Culture is learned informallyβthrough alumni, former interns, junior associates whoβve left quietly, and patterns of attrition. None of this requires mudslinging. You are simply assessing risk, the same way firms assess candidates.
5. You donβt need to βwait for proof.β
Early career moves are not court judgments. If something feels off and the firm does not offer strong institutional safeguards (clear HR processes, multiple reporting channels, visible accountability), it is rational to reconsider long-term plans.
6. One internship does not define your career trajectory.
Making a switch early because you listened to your instincts is far less damaging than staying somewhere that teaches you to suppress them.
Finally, a practical note: keep interactions professional, documented, and within work channels. Not because you expect troubleβbut because clarity protects everyone.
Youβre asking the right questions at the right stage. That, in itself, suggests youβll build a career intentionally rather than by inertia.
Wishing you clarity and confidence as you decide.
https://x.com/RajeshwariRW/status/2011095390662377514
Somebody suggest me to apply to openings in the general corporate team. But I was Wondering if there are any others which can be well suited.
Interning at this chamber where they're all sweet and extremely helpful but i feel like approaching or talking about anything other than the allotted work would be overstepping and I don't wanna pester them, however would love to make meaningful and lasting connections.