In early 2024, TotallyLegal surveyed over 500 legal professionals to capture an industry-wide snapshot of salaries, bonuses, and working arrangements. Responses reveal an educated, highly experienced audience spanning the full range of roles, disciplines, and employment experiences – from small companies to Silver and Magic Circle firms. Amongst which, sit our valued Legal PA and Secretary niche.

Wondering whether you’re due a pay rise? Within this snapshot, TotallyLegal assess the standing of Legal PAs and Legal Secretaries across the legal recruitment market.

How long does the average Legal PA stay in their role?

Working in their role for a median of six years, Legal PAs average one of the longest serving tenures within their current role. Across the board, more than half (53%) of TotallyLegal respondents, from Lawyers to Partners, chose to remain in their current role for less than three years, demonstrating the volatility of employee retention.

By contrast, among longer servers, 15% occupied their post for over 10 years (up 2% year on year).

Are you due a pay rise?

63% of Legal PAs pocketed an ameliorated salary this year, with 20% of Legal Secretaries following suit. Average salaries now stand at £43,125 for Legal PAs, compared to £39,286 in 2023, with Legal Secretary salaries jumping from £29,615 to £32,000 across the past 12 months.

Which companies are paying the highest salaries?

This year, we saw an increased response from business support professionals working in US law firms, 8% of Legal Assistants, 19% of Legal PAs and 10% Legal Secretaries reported working for a corporate US firm. Average salaries for legal professionals in US firms now stands at £58,889 per annum.

In terms of salary, Magic and Silver Circle firms, large, and medium firms place second, third, and fourth respectively, with small law firms occupying the lower echelon of the pay scale.

Bonus trends:

45% of the TotallyLegal audience received a bonus in 2024, with 56% of Legal PAs and 40% of Legal Secretaries taking home an additional sum. Despite a slight drop from last year, 14% of legal professionals took home a bonus greater than 20% of their annual salary.

Flexibility:

Flexibility is standard for the majority of legal professionals, with 65% of the TotallyLegal audience conducting either a hybrid or remote working arrangement. Within this segment, the most common working pattern is 1-2 days in the office, with almost half (42%) of respondents falling into this category.

Those in Legal Secretary jobs are the most office-bound, with 70% of respondents expected to work onsite every day. By contrast, Legal PAs are afforded considerably more flexibility with 81% of participants enjoying a home-based or hybrid agreement.

For those in Legal Secretary roles, office-working comes with heightened pay, which is an incentive to remain in an office-based role. It's apparent that with less flexibility, comes the ability to ask employers for an amplified pay cheque.

Look to TotallyLegal:

Turn to TotallyLegal for the latest insights from the legal recruitment market. Dive into location trends, industry insights, and gender pay gap analysis, with the TotallyLegal salary survey.

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