Are you underpaid for what you do?
There are some firms who quite frankly take the p**s in terms of what they look to pay their lawyers.
Salaries obviously vary depending on the type of firm, the location and the area of law.
When considering what salary to offer to someone firms will also consider how profitable you are to the business and what you bring or are expected to bring to the table in terms of billings, clients/ BD success and any additional responsibilities such as management duties.
I speak to firms regularly about market rates when it comes to salaries.
Most good firms will understandably want to keep pace salary wise with other firms who they consider their genuine competitors in the local area when considering salary levels.
This helps them recruit new people as well as retain talent already in the building.
However, from speaking to lawyers every day there are a small number of firms that pay well below what their competitors are paying locally, yet still seek to position themselves as "leading firms"
There are people working within these firms that are paid well below what they could get if they moved to a firm down the road.
It may well be that there are several other reasons that someone is happy where they are as not everything is about money, but that should not be an excuse for a company to not pay you fairly.
Not everyone is underpaid for what they do, it may well be that you are paid fairly or at the top end for your role, but if you are considering your options or have a salary review coming up it is worth having a chat with a recruiter or checking in from time to time to make sure you are being fairly rewarded for what you bring to your firm.