Can a lawyer become a billionaire?

Jan 12, 2023

Written By Zara Arif

Many people pursue a career in law for the money and lifestyle that they believe it comes with. The career has been glamourised by TV shows such as Suits and Partner Track, while the news includes many stories about multi-million deals being worked on by law firms. But just how does this glitz and glamour filter down to individual lawyers? Can a lawyer become a billionaire?

How lawyers make money

In order to understand if a lawyer can become a billionaire, we must first understand how lawyers make their money.

However, this entirely depends on what type of lawyer they are, where and who they work for and what area of law they specialise in.

The main way that most lawyers earn money, whether they are solicitors or barristers who work in-house or are self-employed, is through charging their clients fees. These fees can be set at a flat rate or more commonly are billed in hourly units.

Alternatively, if a lawyer takes on a case and the case is successful in court, they may negotiate a cut of the money awarded to the client as their fee.

In addition to traditional legal work, lawyers can also make money in other ways. For example, they could earn money from business ventures connected to their legal practice such as appearing at conferences, writing a book or investing into companies or stocks. It is often this supplementary income which helps a lawyer become a billionaire.

Different types of lawyers and their incomes

How much a lawyer can earn depends a lot on where they work and what they specialise in. For example, a commercial lawyer in London working in a City law firm will tend to earn a lot more than a personal injury lawyer working in a high street law firm in a smaller town.

The highest paid lawyers in the UK are corporate and commercial lawyers, with some firms in London offering their newly qualified employees at least £100,000 per year.

On the flip side, the lowest earning lawyers are usually those who do not work for big, private corporations and instead specialise in areas such as Criminal Law, Civil Litigation and Personal Injury.

Barristers in the UK can also expect to earn big money once they have a few years of experience and practice under their belts. Some barristers working in London can earn upwards of £1 million per year, depending on their specialism and the flux of clients.

The richest lawyers in the world

So, which lawyers have surpassed all expectations and actually become billionaires?

At the time of writing, the richest lawyer in the world is Jerry Reinsdorf, who has a reported net worth of $2 billion. He is a lawyer, Certified Public Accountant and perhaps most famously the owner of the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Bulls (baseball and basketball teams). In this way, he has become a billionaire through ventures both within and outside of legal practice.

Peter Angelos is another lawyer with a net worth of $2 billion. He is also the majority owner of a baseball team in Baltimore as well as being a trial lawyer in the United States.

Wichai Thongtang, is a Thai corporate lawyer, who has amassed a net worth of $1.8 million He has celebrity status in Thailand for his humble beginnings and his successful defence of the former Thai Prime Minister in a case in 2001. His wealth has come from working on big corporate cases but it has also been supplemented by investments in property and industry.

Becoming a Lawyer