Top London Lawyers Now Cost More Than £1,000 Per Hour
- Report says hourly rates for elite London firms at record high
- Lack of competition and opaque fee structures are to blame
Cashing in. The average hourly fee charged by partners in the city’s biggest and most profitable firms in 2015 was 850 pounds, and peaked this year at a record 1,100 pounds, or 18 pounds per minute.
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The cost of hiring a top London lawyer has risen to more than 1,000 pounds ($1,445) an hour, meaning only major companies can afford the biggest law firms, according to a research group.
The average hourly fee charged by partners in the city’s biggest and most profitable firms in 2015 was 850 pounds, and peaked this year at a record 1,100 pounds, or 18 pounds per minute, according to the report produced by the Centre for Policy Studies, a free-market think tank. In 2005, the average rate was 674 pounds per hour, adjusted for inflation.