Can you expect both vast amounts of cash, plus a great culture?

This is a question we asked Luke Mitchinson, who worked for years as a transactional lawyer at both a Magic Circle and an elite US law firm, before leaving to work as a headhunter. He now helps lawyers from NQs through to partners secure roles at a broad range of commercial law firms, via ARMA Search. 

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Over to you Luke...

Look, something is always gonna have to give. 

But what that something is will differ for everyone. But can you get to a relatively happy medium? Possibly...

Before I dive in, some caveats:

• This article is largely made up of fairly sweeping generalisations and clearly won't be a 'one size fits all';
• Lawyers, particularly those in big cities, all earn a lot of money relatively speaking (to be in the top 5% of earners in the UK you have to earn over £80k), and the 'cash' element of this article focusses on what lawyers at large international firms earn; and
• Culture doesn't mean the same to everyone, and I don't pretend to provide an answer here for what makes a good / bad culture.

The Trade Off

We all know the classic trade off: more money = working longer = 'worse' culture. This is undoubtedly a huge over simplification, but generally speaking I feel confident that most people will agree with this.

Typically speaking most people would say that the firms that have the longest hours, have the worst cultures. And it's at these same firms where you see people earning the most - be it £200k+ for a 23 year old NQ, or $20m for its highest paid partners.

Conversely, those earning less will typically work fewer hours, and more often than not are working in an office with a 'better' culture.

Where's The Tipping Point?

Say you're in a firm where your hours are reasonable, you work with nice people, you're not [consistently] working late into the night, and your weekends are your own. What's not to love?! And for large amounts of people this is an ideal set up.

However, what I'm wondering is if there's a numerical balance between hours worked and pay earned that would make you query the importance of culture?

• Is a good culture worth £10,000? £20,000? £100,000? Most wouldn't necessarily consider a change in culture (and its associated increase in hours) for £10/20k, but at £100k or even £150k, I think people start to seriously try and put some form of value on culture.
• The interesting thing here too is that it cuts both ways. You have the top earners considering moves to a firm with a better culture for less pay and working fewer hours.
• The gap between these two examples can be pretty vast though. For a top earner are you willing to take a £150,000 pay cut for a better culture? Maybe, maybe not. If the opportunity presented itself, would you take a £150,000 pay increase for a worse culture? Maybe, maybe not.
• How many hundred hours more/less would it need to be to enable you to make or not make this choice? 200 a year? 300? 500?

Age & The Golden Handcuffs

• Age is one that cuts both ways. You might be young and think I can grind it out for X years at a top paying firm, put up with the long hours and tougher culture because it'll set me for life, and then perhaps move to a firm with a better culture / less hours.
• However, the longer you opt to stick at this path, the bigger the cheque you'll have to walk away from becomes. I've roughly worked out that at a top paying firm in London, from NQ-4PQE you could earn over $1,000,000.
• Earning hundreds of thousands in your mid/late 20s and then beyond this in your 30s and onwards can be extremely hard to walk away from.
• In fact, you may become old enough that the Golden Handcuffs appear, meaning for whatever reason you have to stay with the high paying firm to continue to live the life you've become accustomed to. E.g. mortgage payments, car payments, holidays, children, child care, nursery and school fees etc. etc. etc. meaning you can't leave, even if you wanted too.

Is There A Middle Ground?

• I actually do think there there is a middle ground - albeit, I don't think it's in the middle.
• There are PLENTY of firms out there where lawyers - NQs to Equity Partners - earn extremely well without having to sacrifice large proportions of their lives. Indeed, they have a good work/life balance and their office has a good culture.
• The 'catch' being that you're not going to be [necessarily] earning hundreds of thousands / millions a year, BUT your life (for the most part) will be your own, and you'll likely work in a 'nicer' office environment.

Where Does This Leave Us?

I suppose where this leaves us is the question that you can only answer for yourselves:

"What is a good culture worth to me?"

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