UK Lawyer Magazine Picks Up On Indian Lawyer Salary Hikes
Written by Sean Hocking
Last week we reported on a story in the Indian Express detailing the fact that UK & other overseas firms are forcing up salaries at Indian law firms because they've been poaching both existing employees and future ones direct from India's law schools.
The UK Lawyer Magazine (website) has now also written a piece about the issue.
In which they write:
Despite heavy lobbying and GDP growth of almost 10 per cent, India is to all intents and purposes still off-limits to foreign law firms and likely to remain so for at least another one to three years, according to most expectations.
But many global legal players are already lined up in the starting blocks, with some twitching in anticipation of the liberalising shot that will begin the race in earnest.
One strategy for UK firms until that time has been to frantically set up shallow friendships with Indian firms. Another has been to build up teams of Indian lawyers outside India, a project made all the easier by the excellent common law schooling that most Indian lawyers receive.
UK and US firms, as well as reportedly Singaporean, Malaysian and other Asian firms, have been hiring significant numbers of trainees straight from Indian law schools or poaching associates directly from Indian firms.
The foreigners' push has sent pay for young Indian law school graduates soaring by more than 50 per cent in the last year at top Indian firms, as reported by The Lawyer (7 April).
The story also notes that it's not just the overseas firms that are causing salaries to rise. Competition between Indian firms for individuals is rising and a slew of local corporates are also recruiting for in house teams.
So all in all it looks like a good time to be a up and coming lawyer in India
