The View From Up North: How Much Do Canadian Law Partners Earn?

Hint: a lot less than Biglaw partners in the United States.

According to the latest Am Law 100 rankings, Wachtell Lipton had profits per partner of nearly $5 million in 2013.

Meditate on that for a moment. Breathe in through your nose. Breathe out through your mouth.

Five million bucks per year.

Breathe in through your nose. Breathe out through your mouth.

I lost the slidy-thing from my slide ruler so I have to do this in my head, but I think that’s about $100,000 per week per equity partner. A little less than a newbie associate makes in a whole year outside of the major metropolitan areas.

Imagine all the things you can buy with that kind of money. A mansion that looks somewhat familiar every time you visit it. Luxury vehicles for your nanny. Dream trips for your spouse. The finest private schools for your kids. An iPhone for your son so he can talk to you every day. A high-end camera your wife can take to your daughter’s soccer game so you can watch her play through live streaming video. Oh, the joy that kind of money you can bring your family. It’s not Powerball, but it’s most certainly a lottery win per year.

How much do Canadian law partners earn?

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Canadian lawyers don’t worry about how to spend their millions because, for the most part, even our top lawyers don’t make seven figures.

You read it right.

In 2011, our judges wanted a raise. Something about needing to make enough coin to maintain “judicial independence” (whatever that is). It seems a few of our judges making $250,000 per year had to moonlight as Walmart greeters in order to afford the Maserati payments. I guess that doesn’t look good and, frankly, it’s a bit uncomfortable saying, “Thank you, Your Honour” when a Walmart greeter hands you the latest flyer.

As part of our judges’ ploy to dump the part-time work, the Government of Canada asked our tax department to cull through tax returns for every sole practitioner and law firm partner in Canada. The results were a feast for the eyes. The top lawyer in Canada in 2010 made over $8 million. Another lawyer in Toronto made over $6 million. The tax department didn’t name names, but it wasn’t too hard to guess the identity of those ballers (think plaintiff-side class actions and plaintiff-side personal injury).

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To add some background, Canadian law firms don’t publicly share financial information. Consequently, people who are interested in partner compensation have to collect it through other means. This is why the judges’ report was such an eye opener. The aggregated data provided a wealth of information for greedy lawyers. Toronto is the epicentre of the Canadian legal world. It’s where our most eye-catching and stylishly dressed lawyers practice. There are just over 21,000 private practice lawyers in Ontario (most of whom practice in Toronto). In 2010, only approximately 340 Toronto lawyers made more than $1.2 million. One-point-two-million is the first fiscal quarter for Quinn Emanuel partners.

Only approximately 800 lawyers in the top ten metro areas in Canada made more than $880,000. Unfortunately we can’t refine the aggregated data for better understanding, but the conclusion is pretty clear: if you make a million loonies practicing law in Canada, you are very near the pinnacle of lawyer compensation in our country. In the United States, more than twenty firms had profits per partner of over $2 million. Am Law 100 firms averaged $1.47 million in PPP. Lots of American lawyers are making two, three or more millions per year.

It staggers a Canadian lawyer’s mind. I guarantee our top partners work every bit as hard as top American partners. They advise the biggest clients on the juiciest files. Many are world-renowned for their expertise. They travel the globe to speak. Yet, in many cases they get paid a fraction of their American peers. It almost doesn’t seem right that our best and brightest have to suffer through life on less than a million bucks per year.

But, fear not, Canadians are resilient. Our top partners have learned to compensate. They drink medium double-doubles from Tim Horton’s instead of venti-grande-mocha-frappa-lattes from Starbucks. They buy a Porsche or a Ferrari or a Lamborghini, not all three. They live in modest five-thousand-square-foot homes. Spouses raise the kids without a nanny on the weekends. Their kids go to public school with other upper-middle-class kids.

One important benefit Canadian partners enjoy: the trips our partners cancel at the last second are a lot less expensive than the trips American partners cancel.

When large victories slink through your grasp, small ones must suffice.

That’s the View From Up North. Enjoy your week.


Steve Dykstra is a Canadian-trained lawyer and legal recruiter. He is the President of Keybridge Legal Recruiting, a boutique recruitment firm that places lawyers in law firms and in-house roles throughout North America. You can contact Steve at steve@keybridgerecruiting.com. You can also read his blog at stevendykstra.wordpress.com, follow him on Twitter (@IMRecruitR), or connect on LinkedIn (ca.linkedin.com/in/stevedykstra/).