How do these all compare for big firms in London?Are they roughly equal for people with similar years' experience?There seems to be a a glut of people stuck at the 70k mark in these industries (i may be wrong - but seems that way speaking to friends) and anything higher is proportionally much harder work (and greater luck)

I don&apos;t think it has a lot to do with luck. I think it&apos;s largely a reflection of the fact that £70k is the turning point from middle management to senior management.The threshold to get from middle management to senior management is generally pretty high -- those who don&apos;t make it are either stuck operating at that level (accountancy & law) or generally speaking, managed out of the business (consulting).Generally, at < £70k you are expected to be delivering work, at > £70k you are expected to be selling work. They are different types of behaviours, and not everyone who is good at the former is good at the latter.

I thought law paid better with PQE lawyers starting at £55k at the top firms.Also both accountancy and law are more stable with higher barriers to entry.

Stable? As long as you live in India.

so what are the pay bands as one progresses up the ladder?Are &apos;senior manager&apos; salaries about the same? (about 10 years experience in each sector)

Newly qualified lawyers&apos; salaries have also been shooting up in the search for the best talent. Both Freshfields and Allen & Overy now pay their first-year associates £65,000, rising to around £90,000 after three years. (First-year associates at America&apos;s top law firms get the equivalent of £80,000.)But, as many other top-rank City employers have discovered, big earnings do not necessarily guarantee big satisfaction. According to a YouGov poll, published by the Lawyer earlier this month, a quarter of Britain&apos;s lawyers (including a fifth of law-firm partners) would like to leave the profession. The disgruntled complained about cripplingly long hours, intense competition and the impersonality of the biggest firms (some with more than 3,000 lawyers). So why don&apos;t they quit? Because, say three-quarters, of the pay. http://www.economist.com/world/britain/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9487141