Big picture — what the Journal’s 2026 Employment & Salary Survey reveals about life and pay for Scottish solicitors

Where do you fit into the Scottish legal market? The Journal, in conjunction with the Law Society of Scotland and sponsors IDEX, conducted an employment and salary survey to explore who’s earning what, how the job market is changing and offer advice on what to do next.

The Journal’s 2026 Employment & Salary Survey paints a picture of a profession battling with the stresses of a robust but challenging legal landscape in Scotland with general optimism for the year ahead, albeit in the context of a difficult global economic picture.

Nearly 1,900 solicitors (around 13.5% of the profession) responded to a comprehensive questionnaire which gathered data about average pay, job satisfaction, stress and flexible working.

What do the numbers tell us? It’s pleasing to say that the mood in some parts of the Scottish legal profession is buoyant.

Many respondents were bullish about their personal economic prospects (47% excellent or good) and their employer’s economic prospects (59% on the same scale), though only three per cent characterised the legal profession’s outlook as ‘excellent’.

The consensus about the Scottish and UK economy was much less positive: fewer than eight per cent of respondents consider the wider economic outlook to be ‘excellent’ or ‘good’, with 48% and 10% characterising it as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’ respectively.

Against that backdrop, we asked practitioners for details about their salary, bonuses, working patterns and overall satisfaction. Let’s look at the numbers.

Who responded?

A total of 1,888 people responded to the survey, more than two-thirds of whom were women. This is broadly in line with the demographic split of the profession.

Of those participating, 58% had no children while 87% suggested they had no formalised caring responsibilities.

However, respondents who did have caring responsibilities reported an average of 1.76 children and 1.2 adults in their care – this suggests a generational split between older practitioners who have dependants in line with historic trends, and younger lawyers who have not yet had children and are young enough not to be the primary carers for parents or grandparents.

Average Salaries

The Journal was eager to explore average salaries for common legal jobs at all levels, and the large sample size has allowed us to do just that. The table below shows the average salary for each listed role — these have been calculated based on a mid-range point for each band offered to respondents in our survey (e.g. £25k-£29k). The only exception was for the £250k+ band (the highest option offered) which was taken as £250k. Calculating average salaries in this way allowed respondents to choose a band in which their pay falls without disclosing exact figures, creating averages that are accurate and representative but do have a necessary margin for error.

* Note: some roles, including judicial posts, legal consultants and law lecturers, have been excluded so as to retain anonymity due to the small number of responses.

Our research reveals that most respondents enjoyed a pay increase in line with inflation over the past 12 months – 43% of practitioners reported a 0-5% pay bump, a further 25% a pay increase of more than 5%, and 21% saw ‘no change’.

So, are people happy? We will explore this in more depth shortly, but satisfaction with pay is reasonable: 48% are either ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with their salary structure.

Respondents were split almost exactly evenly between those entitled to a bonus and those who were not, reflective of the broad range of employers (e.g. private practice, public sector, sole practitioner, private business). And for those who are entitled, there is similarly an even split between those who reported that bonuses were based on company or individual targets.

What size of bonus are people enjoying? There was no meaningful banding reported by survey participants. For instance, 27% received a bonus of more than 10% last year, but 40% received less than 5%.

The Journal’s survey did uncover a sentiment that many Scottish legal practitioners do not assess salary purely in monetary terms. Instead, satisfaction with pay is shaped by workload, hours, progression opportunities, flexibility and sustainability.

This is more sharply felt among junior lawyers and those in publicly funded work where compensation is seen as misaligned with the demands of modern practice. While senior and commercial solicitors did report satisfaction with their remuneration packages, broader sentiment suggests growing anxiety about whether legal salaries are competitive, sustainable and fair.

Job Satisfaction

What does all this mean for job satisfaction across the legal profession – that was the Journal’s next big question. Overall job satisfaction is positive: 66% are either ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ in their roles, with 40% reporting the same levels of happiness related to advancement.

Job satisfaction is most strongly defined by salary (59%) and work-life balance (66%). Stress remains a huge factor, however. Only 10% of respondents reported not experiencing stress in their current role. Most practitioners say they can cope, with 47% suggesting stress levels are ‘manageable’. A small but nonetheless significant four per cent revealed they are stressed and do not know who to turn to for help.

As the table below shows, job satisfaction and stress vary by stage of career and role. Trainees are significantly less satisfied with their salary than the average, but over-index on job satisfaction. Despite working longer hours than average, they feel stress in line with the average and it appears their appetite for the legal profession is high.

Those working in in-house roles appear happiest and least stressed. There does appear to be some cynicism about the profession at more senior levels. And while partners and directors on average work longer hours, most are happy with their pay.

Throughout our research we learned that there are stark gender pay differences linked to seniority within organisations, and that home and flexible working remains varied across the sector six years on from the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. We explore both these issues in more depth elsewhere in our series.

While there is a lot of cause for optimism, when the Journal invited respondents to share their feelings about their work-life balance, they painted a picture of a profession under significant strain. The dominant narrative is one of increasing pressure, insufficient reward and concerns about how sustainable the legal profession is.

There is pride in the work and status that comes with being a solicitor, but often this was outweighed in responses by concerns about: workload and burnout, salaries not matching responsibility or hours worked, challenges progressing in legal careers, high staff turnover, billing pressures and a sense of presenteeism.

The sentiment of being permanently “on call” was strong and common across respondents, as were concerns about unhealthy work practices driven by high targets and billing expectations.

Conclusion

The figures and reported sentiment collected by the Journal as part of the 2026 Employment & Salary Survey suggest that while there is optimism from some quarters, the legal profession is experiencing a widening gap between expectations and wellbeing, responsibility and compensation, recruitment and retention, and prestige and lived experience.

Law in Scotland is continuing to attract committed, talented practitioners who are fulfilled by legal work. However, there is a growing concern that the current structure of practice is no longer compatible with long-term wellbeing and retention. A good salary, it would seem, is no longer enough to sustain a good solicitor.