Goodwin boosts starting salary for newly qualified lawyers to £175k

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By Rhys Duncan on

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Pay war intensifies


Goodwin Procter has become the latest US law firm to increase the salaries of its London-based newly qualified (NQ) lawyers, now offering £175,000.

This boost, an increase of £15,000, takes Goodwin close to the new market topping figure of £180,000 at Gibson Dunn and Quinn Emanuel, with both firms increasing earlier this year.

The Legal Cheek Firms Most List shows that the firm typically hires around 14 trainees each year. They have also been handed salary increases, going from £52,000 to £55,000 in the first year, and from £57,000 to £60,000 in the second year.

The 2024 Legal Cheek Firms Most List

This recent increase follows a wave of salary raises among Magic Circle firms, elevating A&O Shearman, Clifford Chance, Freshfields, and Linklaters to an NQ figure of £150,000. Trainees have also seen a boost, with their first-year pay rising to £56,000 and second-year to £61,000.

Slaughter and May is the only Magic Circle outfit yet to announce a raise.