Want to make a difference? "Oh, and before you ask, I don't shoot and I don't fish.". Please note that the 20 individuals on this list are all practicing attorneys or judges. Cheers, Ma'am! dramatic defenestration of former boss Bill Voge after a sex scandal, suing banks in the wake of the financial crisis. The firms have profited on a wave of company mergers and acquisitions, while lawyers are commanding higher salaries to keep them from defecting for better paid jobs at investment banks. The self-proclaimed mad art collector has furnished the properties with around 6,000 antiques and pieces of fine art. The salary boom is thought to be responsible for a boom in the sale of luxury properties in London since the turn of the year. Legal issues may range from divorce, criminal matters, property rights, tax, and other significant issues that are relevant to the lives of people. “What Freshfields and the Magic Circle are doing with stretching their equity is a sticking plaster in the context of what the US firms are able to pay,” said one top headhunter. High-yield finance heavyweight Apostolos Gkoutzinis joined Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy this year from US rival Shearman & Sterling where he was head of the firm’s Europe and Middle East capital markets practice. Not only does Kirkland partner Neel Sachdev command top dollar, he was also once named as London’s sexiest lawyer by website Legal Cheek. Read more: Sex and power: Can law change its cover up culture? However, remuneration on this scale demonstrates the impressive clout achieved by Kirkland, as well as Higgins’ star ranking in the sector. The new town project he is working on depends upon his ability to persuade planning authorities to allow the building of a new town of 10,000 houses with a hospital and business park in 500 acres of south-east Midlands countryside. Former Linklaters restructuring star Yushan Ng joined US firm Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft in 2012 on a $4-5m salary. Last week the Daily Mail reported how 400 City lawyers were now earning more than £1million a year or more following a boom in profits for the "Magic Circle" of leading firms. The 64-year-old lawyer has negotiated the record-breaking contract with a British property consortium, catapulting him above his peers to become the most expensive solicitor in the land. Although Quinn’s pay system is more opaque than most, sources estimate East’s pay at between $7 and $8m. Sex and power: Can law change its cover up culture? Bagshaw, who initially joined White & Case on a $4m per-year deal, is now likely to be paid up to $5m, say sources. Clearly not one to follow the crowd, high-yield specialist Ward McKimm moved from Kirkland to Freshfields in 2015. Yet with a fee of £100million safely negotiated with his latest client, David Cooper is now by far and away Britain's best paid lawyer Former Clifford Chance funds head Jason Glover joined New York firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in 2010 where he is managing partner of its London office. Simon Twigden rolled the dice and won when he led a breakaway group of lawyers from Addleshaw Goddard to found litigation boutique Enyo Law in 2010. Legal directory Chambers & Partners ranks him as a “star individual” in the fund formation space where he acts for private equity firms such as Bridgepoint, Cinven, Apax, BC Partners, and Triton. He grew up as the son of humble market traders. The Magic Circle, the five London headquartered law firms that have traditionally dominated City law, operate lockstep remuneration models, where partner earnings are decided by seniority, rather than just performance. But despite an extraordinary deal to spearhead an eight-year long planning project, the planning specialist claims he had more disposable income when he was a student - thanks to combined mortgages of £10million. Most solicitors working on the High Street will earn around £40,000 a year, but Mr Cooper was happy to to defend the disparity. Richard East is co-London head of US litigation firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan which has made fortunes for its partners by suing banks in the wake of the financial crisis. Kirkland & Ellis overhauls Latham & Watkins as world's richest law firm. "The client knows that the success fee has to be a large figure to keep me on board for that length of time.". There are plenty of other “lawyers” with a considerably higher net worth, but they simply have a law degree and no longer use it. And that is when these 'Lucky I was there!' Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, "I don't earn any more than a top footballer or a chief executive of a top company. The firm is run by eccentric mountain-climbing founder John B Quinn who personally decides on each partner’s remuneration. "I've got seven children, three stepchildren from my second marriage, and they all need feeding. They are also all men, which, given the pretty dire gender diversity among the upper ranks of top law firms, is also sadly unsurprising. In January he jumped to US firm Milbank for north of $5m a year, according to sources, alongside three fellow restructuring partners. The project will last five to eight years and most of the fees are 'back-ended', he told Legal Business magazine. Yet with a fee of £100million safely negotiated with his latest client, David Cooper is now by far and away Britain's best paid lawyer. Bagshaw and Youle climbed the ranks at Magic Circle firm Linklaters together before jumping ship to US firm White & Case in 2014. Considering a change of direction? I'd say it's even-stevens at this point. Subject Matter Expert (SME) for the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE). He grew up as the son of humble market traders. “The gap is getting bigger – and fast, we barely do any work with UK firms now because it makes more sense to pull people out of them for US firms,” they add. Mr Cooper is the son of a Jewish Romanian father and an English mother who both worked on the market stalls of Manchester. The attraction of high salaries may draw a lot of people to law, but the reality can be very different. Moment woman is 'robbed' in the street, Police swoop on village and fire rubber bullets to take down man, London: Pub installs phone on bar so customers can order drinks, Guilty corgi stares at owner with shaky leg after wrongdoing, Bob Stewart tells harrowing story of Ballykelly bombing, Body of rapper Mo3 lies on Dallas highway after he was shot dead, Two women seen fighting in shocking street brawl, Officers appear to hold man after car 'rammed into police station', Man 'pours petrol on road' before setting it alight in London, Police officers appear to take down man near Edmonton Green, Onlooker screams as man waves 'gun' outside window in Leicestershire, Man drenches road with flammable liquids after 'police station rammed'. His clients include financial sponsors such as 3i, Carlyle, Lone Star and Warburg Pincus. He acts for clients such as Triton Partners, Carlyle Group and CVC Capital Partners. Left-wing Dems blame Nancy Pelosi's refrigerator filled with $12-a-pint ice cream in her multi-million... Jeffrey Toobin is fired from the New Yorker weeks after being caught masturbating on a work Zoom call. Sources said that Sachdev is paid between $7-8m a year. The firm’s accounts show that its top paid partner received £3.5m last year, with sources indicating that Twigden was the lucky individual. The lawyer regularly charges £1000-an-hour and owns 26 cars, including four Aston Martins, top-of-the-range Porsches and Mercedes and his pride and joy, a Pagani Zonda. Get an estimated calculation of how much you should be earning and insight into your career options. US firms are able to offer star partners rich rewards because they tend to operate an “eat-what-you-kill” system, where partners receive a share of what they bring through the door. He is best known in legal circles for his work on Arsenal football club's move away from Highbury to a new stadium at Ashburton Grove in time for the coming season, a deal which secured him £2million. Sources say Milbank stretched above $5m to bring in the finance star. While this list is not comprehensive, it aims to give a flavour of the dramatic shift in pay and power at the top of the City’s legal world. Mr Cooper, who works out of an office in the City, will be paid the staggering figure to advise the client on the development of a new town to be built in the South Midlands. Who are the City's best paid lawyers and what are they taking … Moment up to seven police officers break up outdoor exercise session as Lycra-clad group lift weights and... 'Absolutely no chance' No10's 200million new 15-minute Covid tests will get us back to normal life:... Government's Test and Trace hotline misses 25,000 calls every DAY with nearly half of people wanting a Covid... 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