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Salaries in Saskatoon


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I realize that it depends on a number of different things, but what is the range of salaries for articling and for early career positions in Saskatoon? Is it comparable to Calgary or would it be much less? (yes, I have googled) 

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t3ctonics
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It's really variable. I'm out of the loop on articling and junior level pay other than at the two offices I've worked, but I'd expect a range of $55-75k for articling and $70-90k for first year associates. If I recall correctly my articling salary in 2013-14 was about $60k and my first year salary was $74k, then bumped up to I believe $87k in January when I became a second year call. Anyone with more recent knowledge feel free to chime in.

The large full-service firms (in Saskatoon that's like a 40-lawyer office) generally keep within about $5k of each other for articling and maybe $10k for first year associate salaries. The numbers ZSA publishes for medium sized firms in Calgary is a rough guide, with the highest paying a little more, perhaps even closer to the large firm numbers. Targets I know of range from 1450-1700. That's a big range, but variations in base salary, bonus systems, and fee splits keep compensation reasonably competitive between the larger firms, taking into account the baseline workload expectations.

I've heard secondhand from multiple people that one Saskatoon firm pays Calgary biglaw rates for articling and first year associates, but they're a little smaller than the other full-service firms so they don't hire an articling student every year. 

Many smaller firms have relatively low base salaries with no billable hour target, with fee split systems that can sometimes result in associates making as much as at big firms if they work a similar amount (though that tends to be harder at smaller firms unless you're good at bringing in business yourself). A year ago a friend of mine was offered a mid-level associate position at a small Regina firm with a base salary under $100k, but a complex fee split system that meant billing just 1300 hours would get him up to $150k and billing 2000 (unrealistic, but whatever) would be over $250k. Also, some of these firms pay bonuses on a monthly basis rather than annually, so you can see the fruits of your labour more quickly.

I haven't seen the numbers in a while, but the provincial government used to keep articling and first year salaries roughly on par with the large firms, though they do not scale up nearly as much with years of experience.

In-house articling positions are very rare. Some (most?) years there aren't any at all. There usually aren't any in-house positions targeted at first year calls either, but it's not uncommon for first year lawyers to get a job that was posted looking for 2-3 years of experience. In-house salaries here tend to be 10-25% less than large firm associate salaries at the same year of call. The difference is smaller for junior lawyers and bigger the more senior you are because in-house pay doesn't scale up as much as big firm pay. A lot of in-house jobs cap out in the 150-160k range unless you move up to a leadership position. I don't actually know what a senior associate at a big firm makes these days, but I wouldn't be surprised if an 8 year call was making $200k.

For in-house jobs I know there was recently one looking for 7 years experience paying $130-190k with no bonus, one looking for 8 years of experience paying up to $140k (don't know the minimum) with a 15% bonus, one looking for 10 years of experience paying $126-158k with a 20% bonus, and one looking for 8-10 paying $140k with no bonus. Both of the ones paying $140k had room for direct further advancement, while the other two did not (both were for the sole lawyer in the organization). All had good pension plans, 5+ weeks of vacation, and claimed to be basically 9-5s.

 

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33 minutes ago, t3ctonics said:

It's really variable. I'm out of the loop on articling and junior level pay other than at the two offices I've worked, but I'd expect a range of $55-75k for articling and $70-90k for first year associates. If I recall correctly my articling salary in 2013-14 was about $60k and my first year salary was $74k, then bumped up to I believe $87k in January when I became a second year call. Anyone with more recent knowledge feel free to chime in.

The large full-service firms (in Saskatoon that's like a 40-lawyer office) generally keep within about $5k of each other for articling and maybe $10k for first year associate salaries. The numbers ZSA publishes for medium sized firms in Calgary is a rough guide, with the highest paying a little more, perhaps even closer to the large firm numbers. Targets I know of range from 1450-1700. That's a big range, but variations in base salary, bonus systems, and fee splits keep compensation reasonably competitive between the larger firms, taking into account the baseline workload expectations.

I've heard secondhand from multiple people that one Saskatoon firm pays Calgary biglaw rates for articling and first year associates, but they're a little smaller than the other full-service firms so they don't hire an articling student every year. 

Many smaller firms have relatively low base salaries with no billable hour target, with fee split systems that can sometimes result in associates making as much as at big firms if they work a similar amount (though that tends to be harder at smaller firms unless you're good at bringing in business yourself). A year ago a friend of mine was offered a mid-level associate position at a small Regina firm with a base salary under $100k, but a complex fee split system that meant billing just 1300 hours would get him up to $150k and billing 2000 (unrealistic, but whatever) would be over $250k. Also, some of these firms pay bonuses on a monthly basis rather than annually, so you can see the fruits of your labour more quickly.

I haven't seen the numbers in a while, but the provincial government used to keep articling and first year salaries roughly on par with the large firms, though they do not scale up nearly as much with years of experience.

In-house articling positions are very rare. Some (most?) years there aren't any at all. There usually aren't any in-house positions targeted at first year calls either, but it's not uncommon for first year lawyers to get a job that was posted looking for 2-3 years of experience. In-house salaries here tend to be 10-25% less than large firm associate salaries at the same year of call. The difference is smaller for junior lawyers and bigger the more senior you are because in-house pay doesn't scale up as much as big firm pay. A lot of in-house jobs cap out in the 150-160k range unless you move up to a leadership position. I don't actually know what a senior associate at a big firm makes these days, but I wouldn't be surprised if an 8 year call was making $200k.

For in-house jobs I know there was recently one looking for 7 years experience paying $130-190k with no bonus, one looking for 8 years of experience paying up to $140k (don't know the minimum) with a 15% bonus, one looking for 10 years of experience paying $126-158k with a 20% bonus, and one looking for 8-10 paying $140k with no bonus. Both of the ones paying $140k had room for direct further advancement, while the other two did not (both were for the sole lawyer in the organization). All had good pension plans, 5+ weeks of vacation, and claimed to be basically 9-5s.

 

Thanks for the detailed answer! I really appreciate the info. 

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