Signium and IE Law School present the 17th Comparative Analysis of Salaries in Law Firms in Spain 2021

The presentation of the report was held on February 24, 2022 at IE Tower. Chairing the session were Soledad Atienza, Dean of IE Law School; Ignacio Bao, Chairman Emeritus of the Global Board and Managing Partner Spain & Portugal of Signium; Carlos Alberola, Principal at Signium; Antonio Vázquez-Guillén, Co-Managing Partner of Allen & Overy; and Lola Conde, COO of Banco Santander Legal.

Carlos Alberola, who presented the findings of the study, highlighted “the positive evolution of the sector in 2021.” He continued, “We hope this will become a continuing trend that will help the further development of the legal sector in Spain.”

These are the study’s most relevant findings, according to the report:

• In 2021, lawyers’ salaries increased slightly in all categories across the industry, a contrast to the drop observed in 2020.
• Interns’ salaries are continuing to increase, whereas paralegals, for yet another year, experienced slight decreases in salary.
• The Big Four and international firms were at the forefront of these increases.
• Salaries at boutique law firms have remained virtually unchanged, and national firms show slight decreases in the categories of Intern and Director.
• The data collected in 2021 show bullish results at industry level.
• With regard to non-monetary compensation, the outlook is stable, as in previous years, with the exception of a surge in remote working in 2020, which was triggered by the pandemic.

“The excellent quality of legal services in Spain and of the professionals in the industry are key elements of the Spanish legal market, which has been growing for several years.”

Soledad Atienza, Dean of IE Law School

“For this reason, it is good news that this growth is being matched by better salaries for lawyers. In addition, the legal market is becoming increasingly stronger in Europe, and many Spanish law firms are currently employing different strategies to pursue expansion into Latin America,” says Soledad Atienza, Dean of IE Law School.

Click here to view the report.

About the study

The report describes the current market situation in terms of the salaries lawyers earn throughout the top law firms in Spain, comparing the salary brackets of the different professional categories with the same data from previous years.

The study surveyed over 7,000 professionals and took into account both national and international law firms, as well as the Tax & Legal divisions of the Big Four and boutique law firms staffed with between 20 and 50 professionals.

The data correspond to salaries for the categories of Intern, Junior, Associate, Senior Associate and Director. The study once again shows comparative results for monetary compensation but also includes elements of non-monetary compensation (restaurant bills, childcare vouchers, health insurance, life insurance, mobile phone, language classes, parking, housing rent, gym membership, professional training, etc.).