“The 5am Finishes Are Worth It”
The Daily Telegraph carried a story on the big money paid by major law firms and banks in the UK, shedding light on the demanding but high-paying lifestyle of the “super graduates”
titled “‘I’m a super-graduate on £180,000 – the 5am finishes are worth it'” sheds light on the demanding lifestyle of high-earning fresh graduates, dubbed “super-graduates.”
The article follows the story of David, a 23-year-old investment banker who graduated from Oxford University’s humanities program in 2022. Despite earning a staggering £180,000 salary, David’s work-life balance is severely skewed, often requiring him to work until the early hours of the morning and miss personal events like his father’s birthday dinner.
Though hesitant to study six years for law and finding consulting “boring”, he chose investment banking. He now works as a second-year analyst at a top American bank, earning over £100,000 annually including base salary, bonus and signing incentives.
Although the average UK salary is around £34,963, certain industries like law and investment banking offer exorbitant starting salaries to top graduates, placing them in the top 1 percent of British earners.
Quinn Emanuel now pays newly-qualified London lawyers a staggering £180,000 base salary – around £8,900 monthly after tax, an 18 percent raise. This follows competitor Gibson Dunn also increasing annual pay to £180,000 and the various other London big law salary increases that we have reported about.
It seems an extraordinary sum to earn for someone so early-career (a Quinn Emanuel insider revealed the youngest newly-qualified attorneys could be around 24-25 years old). However, for legal recruitment firm Buchanan Law’s executive director James Lavan, the lofty salary is justifiable.
“Becoming a lawyer takes six years, and the hiring pool offering specialized skills is limited,” he says. “American firms far outpace UK counterparts due to the salaries offered.”
“However, these firms demand an immense tradeoff. They require extremely intensive, difficult work. Newly-qualified lawyers commonly log 14-hour days, routinely finishing at 2am only to return at 9am,” Lavan continues.
“Sacrifices are expected in this field. The lucrative pay offsets the loss of work-life balance. The salary comes at a steep cost.”
However, this financial success comes at the cost of intense work pressure and long hours despite the ‘junior millionaire’ law pay scenario that many may seek.
The piece also features Xinyi Tong, a graduate from the London School of Economics, who was selected for a prestigious postgraduate business program in Dubai, further exemplifying the high-powered and demanding nature of the so-called “super-graduate” roles.
While the article acknowledges the substantial financial rewards, it underscores the grueling work schedules and sacrifices these young professionals must endure, often missing out on personal milestones and social events due to their unrelenting workloads.
We have regularly reported on the tough work requirements of big law firms and the toll they can take on lawyers seeking the much-feted ‘work-life balance’. For big law firms paying big money, it is more ‘work’ than ‘life’ – but for some of the super graduates that suits them just fine.
So be careful of what you either wish for or seek. It could make you a lot of money, but also steal a lot of your life.
