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A position at one of the top law firms comes with a number of perks – prestige, prominence and a very generous payment package, to name just a few. So why are a growing number of lawyers choosing to join the Big Four accounting firms instead?

A 2018 survey by online job website could highlight why – it found a significant proportion of legal sector workers are unhappy in their current positions and are looking for more.

Would these legal professionals be happier working in the legal arm of a Big Four accountancy firm? We investigate the pros and cons of both…

The case for the Big Four accounting firms

In recent years the Big Four accounting firms have invested heavily in their legal solutions, offering clients the latest technology and automation solutions alongside operational efficiencies and legal expertise.

To expand their operations, they’re luring in new law graduates with intensive training programmes, such as providing a framework for young lawyers to pass the Solicitors Qualifying Exam. They also offer a decent starting salary package, too – lawyers at PwC start on around £72k.

The Big Four firms have also invested heavily in their human resources departments, meaning career development and advancement opportunities are aplenty.

Report: Are the Big Four reshaping the future of legal services?

But one of the biggest perks for young lawyers is the exposure to the latest technology and innovation, and working as part of a global, customer-centric team across multiple practice areas.

“The candidates we talk to are really fired up by the innovation agenda, basically reimagining the future of law and being part of that story; that for them is very exciting,” says Emily Foges, Lead Partner for Legal Managed Services at Deloitte.

“They are also excited about working closely with different expertise in the firm, so being on a team with people who have huge amounts of experience in other disciplines rather than just being on a team of lawyers.”

Another core element attracting talent to the Big Four is the work-life balance. Fortune ranks EY, KPMG, PwC and Deloitte as top 50 places to work (only two law firms rank inside the top 50) and Working Mothers magazine listed Deloitte, EY and PwC in its top 10 family-friendly companies.

The case for large law firms

Despite their age, many of the larger law firms are doing surprisingly well at adapting to change. A third of law firms have introduced new technology into their legal service operations in the last 12 months, a study by found – and a third (37%) have already implemented advanced tech solutions such as automated documents, interactive websites and artificial intelligence (AI).

To attract new law graduates, many law firms have boosted their starting salaries to upwards of £100k and are supporting employees with the Solicitors Qualifying Exam.

They’re also making an active effort to improve their work-life balance by reducing hours and allowing remote working or hybrid working models post-Covid.

These large firms have also been incredibly successful throughout the pandemic. In 2020, the Top 100 UK law firms generated £27.7bn, according to .

The hours may be tough and the pressure high, but all the Big Four benefits won’t be enough for lawyers who want to run the show. At one of these law firms, lawyers have exposure to some of the biggest and most engaging cases in the world, and the opportunity to get on the partner track and wield huge influence (and generate huge earnings).

Brad Blickstein, Co-head of Baretz+Brunelle’s NewLaw Practice says:

“Law school teaches you to look for the differences in matters, so it’s quite hard to then come out of that thinking and forget all about the differences and instead focus on the 95% of everything that’s the same.”

“Those who have had that mind-shift are going to fit nicely into a Big Four, but if you take the everything-is-different approach, then a law firm is going to be more appropriate for you.”

Read our new report on how the top large law firms compare to the Big Four.