About 60 percent of legal professionals in the GCC received a pay rise last year with highest average salaries seen in Abu Dhabi and Qatar, a new survey has revealed.
The survey by legal search firm Elizabeth Williams Search, said many expat lawyers had no plans to leave the region, with a majority saying they feel optimistic about prospects for 2012.
It said salaries have held up well over the last year, with around 60 percent getting a pay rise last year and almost 80 percent expecting to get a 2011 bonus paid out this quarter.
The average salary for a head of legal was almost $21,000 a month (excluding bonus), the survey showed.
It added that salaries could be significantly more if the individual is fluent in written and spoken Arabic and qualified in a Western, common law jurisdiction.
The highest average salaries were generally seen in Abu Dhabi and Qatar, while respondents picked Dubai and Abu Dhabi as the most desirable places to work.
However, the poll showed that Qatar’s popularity increased significantly over the last year.
The survey also revealed that redundancies in the in-house legal sector have abated.
Previous surveys conducted by Elizabeth Williams Search showed a quarter of heads of legal were made redundant in 2009, 10 percent in 2010 and only 6 percent last year.
Just under half of the 205 heads of legal surveyed expect to recruit this year, the survey results showed.
Elizabeth Williams, managing director of Elizabeth Williams Search, said: “The executive search industry is a bellwether for the wider economy and the survey results confirm what we have been observing since mid 2010 and that is that optimism is returning to the market.
“The results also show that the region is perhaps not as transitory as people think, as a lot of lawyers want to remain here for as long as they can.”