Salary expectations

[baystreetgirl]

Hi guys,

I've been offered an Articling position at a boutique personal injury firm today, one of the best in Toronto. I am very pleased with the firm, and the people I will be working with genuinely seem nice. It is litigation heavy and basically my dream job. 
 

The salary however is 55-58k which isnt a ton more than I make now as a legal assistant in big law on Bay. They also pay for licensing fees. I'm not trying to be greedy of course but i was expecting my salary to be more than what I make now as it will be a lot more work. Do you think I should negotiate, or is this a pretty good offer? The firm is reputable and I am elated I got the offer. 

[Snax]

That’s a very fair offer for a PI firm in my opinion. 

[baystreetgirl]

1 minute ago, Snax said:

That’s a very fair offer for a PI firm in my opinion. 

Thank you for the input! It really helps put things into perspective.

[ZukoJD]

I'm at a firm not in a major city that does a lot of PI and they pay their articling students slightly more than that. 

[iwillgetajob]

Can firms send out offers before the call day?

[Lawstudents20202020]

2 hours ago, ZukoJD said:

I'm at a firm not in a major city that does a lot of PI and they pay their articling students slightly more than that. 

I also articled in not a major city at a PI firm and was paid 45k for my articles, which was about the market rate for small firms. 

[TheAEGIS]

15 hours ago, baystreetgirl said:

The salary however is 55-58k which isnt a ton more than I make now as a legal assistant in big law on Bay. They also pay for licensing fees. I'm not trying to be greedy of course but i was expecting my salary to be more than what I make now as it will be a lot more work. Do you think I should negotiate, or is this a pretty good offer? The firm is reputable and I am elated I got the offer. 

Disclaimer, I'm not in PI.

Is that figure already pro-rated? What's your weekly work out to?
If it's pro-rated then 55-58k isn't bad for 8-9 months of articling.
Some places pay more, some places pay less. 

Also there should be a significant jump to first year associate salary that would far outpace anything you would have earned as a legal assistant. So I wouldn't worry about that comparison.

[Damages]

2 hours ago, Lawstudents20202020 said:

I also articled in not a major city at a PI firm and was paid 45k for my articles, which was about the market rate for small firms. 

Didn’t you article in BC though?

[baystreetgirl]

3 hours ago, TheAEGIS said:

Disclaimer, I'm not in PI.

Is that figure already pro-rated? What's your weekly work out to?
If it's pro-rated then 55-58k isn't bad for 8-9 months of articling.
Some places pay more, some places pay less. 

Also there should be a significant jump to first year associate salary that would far outpace anything you would have earned as a legal assistant. So I wouldn't worry about that comparison.

Just got the contract, it says my salary is paid on a pro-rated basis. So that means this is my salary for the 8-9 month term? Not annual 12 month. Happy days!

Thanks a ton

[QueensDenning]

7 minutes ago, baystreetgirl said:

Just got the contract, it says my salary is paid on a pro-rated basis. So that means this is my salary for the 8-9 month term? Not annual 12 month. Happy days!

Thanks a ton

Pretty sure that means annual 12 months. I don't think any PI firms are paying what would amount to near-Bay st. rates. I could be totally wrong, though. 

Edited August 10, 2022 by QueensDenning

[99problems]

35 minutes ago, baystreetgirl said:

Just got the contract, it says my salary is paid on a pro-rated basis. So that means this is my salary for the 8-9 month term? Not annual 12 month. Happy days!

Thanks a ton

I still think it means annual. Make it easy for yourself and call your principal (or HR or whatever) and ask.

[Disbarred]

If  it’s pro-rated it means annual. You get that amount annual as a ratio of how much you worked relative to the full year

Edited August 11, 2022 by Disbarred

[t3ctonics]

16 hours ago, baystreetgirl said:

Hi guys,

I've been offered an Articling position at a boutique personal injury firm today, one of the best in Toronto. I am very pleased with the firm, and the people I will be working with genuinely seem nice. It is litigation heavy and basically my dream job. 
 

The salary however is 55-58k which isnt a ton more than I make now as a legal assistant in big law on Bay. They also pay for licensing fees. I'm not trying to be greedy of course but i was expecting my salary to be more than what I make now as it will be a lot more work. Do you think I should negotiate, or is this a pretty good offer? The firm is reputable and I am elated I got the offer. 

For what its worth, its not terribly uncommon for articling students to be paid similarly to legal assistants, with specialized or experienced support staff potentially being paid as much as first year lawyers. I know at the office I articled, regular assistants topped out above summer students and below articling students, and paralegals were above articling students and below first year associates.

This can sometimes mean less pay for more work, but it's temporary. Your income will scale up much more as a lawyer over time. Part of it is that articling students and very junior lawyers typically don't produce a whole lot of income, but part of it is also a deliberate carrot on a stick - firms will wave future money at juniors in the hope that they won't demand so much right now.

[Dream Machine]

Seems fairly normal. Even if it's a little low, it isn't by much at all.

[lawgal96]

is 68,000 per annum a competitive salary for boutique insurance defence firm in toronto? 

[QueensDenning]

1 hour ago, lawgal96 said:

is 68,000 per annum a competitive salary for boutique insurance defence firm in toronto? 

yes, I've seen ID as low as 1K/week for a fairly reputable ID boutique. 

[lawgal96]

37 minutes ago, QueensDenning said:

yes, I've seen ID as low as 1K/week for a fairly reputable ID boutique. 

geez. thanks for your response!