Moves NQ rates to £90k
Accountancy giant PwC has upped the salaries of its newly qualified (NQ) lawyers, Legal Cheek can reveal, as firms across the City continue to splash the cash in order to attract and retain the very best legal talent.
The Big Four player, which recruits around 25 trainees each year, confirmed its most junior lawyers will now start on a salary of £90,000. This matches the pay currently on offer at Ince, Mishcon de Reya and Stephenson Harwood, our Firms Most List 2022 shows.
Details of the new NQ rates come just weeks after the firm announced that more than £120 million was being set aside for staff pay rises, “in a move that recognises rising living costs and the competitive recruitment market”.
PwC Legal, as it was known then, first began offering legal services in 2014 when it was granted an alternative business structure (ABS) licence by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). Two years later it integrated its legal arm into the wider accountancy firm PwC.
Its UK legal business has since gone from strength-to-strength. Fee earner headcount now sits at roughly 400, with its leadership recently setting out ambitious plans to double this in the coming years.