24 Apr Legal Support Salary Reviews
Legal Support & Legal Shared Services Salary Reviews
Salary and performance reviews for 2024 are here already; and unfortunately, it doesn’t sound like it will be as lucrative for some firms as it has been for the past year or two. So I have highlighted some tips below on what you can do to put yourself in the best position to make the most of your review both financially and in career growth!
Legal secretaries in the Sydney market have seen a substantial increase in the bandings for the past two to three years. COVID-19, a tight market with little movement and new roles being created due to growth, saw demand for experienced and impressive legal secretaries. But as every good legal secretary knows, not all roles are created equal! Some roles require more overtime, some only have traditional duties and are 9 to 5, some require extra responsibilities and tasks, some require people to be in the office full-time, while others have to put up with some “particular” Partner moods and work styles, all of which help determine the salary of each legal secretary role.
So before your performance review, I suggest spending some time reviewing your performance over the past 12 months; know your strengths, what you have worked on since your last review, what areas you still need to develop and your ideas on how to go about improving and learning for the future. The other information you want to prepare before your meeting includes having facts and details around things like, how much and how often you have worked over time, if you supported more Partners/Lawyers, (for example, how many, for how long, and any extra duties taken on as a result), were you asked to cover for another secretary on leave or help another team, or were you delegated extra responsibilities, that weren’t in your job description when you joined the firm! And lastly think about your genuine demeanour; have you been the happy-to-help and positive team member for the last 12 months or so? Our attitude, work ethic, use of initiative and general demeanour of course affect the enjoyment others have working with us, which in turn of course are a consideration when it comes to pay review time.
Once you have finished your self-assessment and have your facts to hand, you are ready for your performance meeting. If you would like to discuss individual salaries and what the market is paying for someone with your number of years of experience, skills, and specific practice area, the Monty Support team are happy to chat so let us know and we can arrange a time for a confidential call.
