Revealed: What 100+ top law firms pay newly qualified solicitors — with some earning £180k straight from their TCs

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By Rhys Duncan on

11

New Legal Cheek data 🔍 💷

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Legal Cheek has compiled an official rundown of newly qualified (NQ) lawyer salaries at over 100 top law firms in the UK — and spoiler: some are impressively high!

From the hefty pay packets for new recruits at top US law firms in London to the more modest (yet still pretty good) salaries at large regional firms that offer a solid work/life balance, we’ve got it all covered.

The latest figures reveal that NQ salaries across our list have risen by an average of 7.5% over the past 12 months since we last compiled the data. However, there is a notable disparity: a few firms have boosted pay by up to 20%, while many others have made no increases or offered raises below inflation.

Those top-end increases include salary boosts at all of the Magic Circle firms. With Freshfields igniting a fresh pay war earlier this year, Clifford Chance, Linklaters, Slaughter and May, and the newly formed A&O Shearman followed suit, raising salaries by an impressive £25,000 to reach £150,000.

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Other big movers were White & Case, increasing from £140,000 to £170,000, Macfarlanes from £115,000 to £140,000, and Baker McKenzie with an impressive £22,000 raise to take pay also up to £140,000.

At the top of the table are the usual suspects — a group of leading US law firms. While these firms often expect long hours, with typical workdays spanning 12 to 13 hours (see our working hours data here), junior lawyers at the top 16 firms now earn upwards of £170,000. The highest newly qualified (NQ) salary, an impressive £180,000, is jointly held by Gibson Dunn and Paul Weiss. This represents a significant increase from last year, when only five firms offered NQ salaries above £170,000.

You can view all our salary data, including rates for trainees, on our 2025 Legal Cheek Firms Most List.

How much will I earn as a newly qualified solicitor? 💷

LAW FIRM NQ SALARY
Gibson Dunn £180,000
Paul Weiss £180,000
Goodwin £175,000
Sidley Austin £175,000
White & Case £175,000
Akin £174,000*
Kirkland & Ellis £174,000*
Latham & Watkins £174,000*
Paul Hastings £174,000*
Vinson & Elkins £173,077
Fried Frank £173,000
Morgan Lewis £173,000
Milbank £170,455
Davis Polk & Wardwell £170,000
Sullivan & Cromwell £170,000
Weil Gotshal & Manges £170,000
Debevoise & Plimpton £168,000
Dechert £165,000
King & Spalding £165,000
Ropes & Gray £165,000
Willkie Farr & Gallagher £165,000
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton £164,500
Jones Day £160,000
Cooley £157,000
A&O Shearman £150,000
Clifford Chance £150,000
Freshfields £150,000
Linklaters £150,000
Slaughter and May £150,000
Winston & Strawn £150,000
Baker McKenzie £140,000
Macfarlanes £140,000
Orrick £140,000
Herbert Smith Freehills £135,000
Hogan Lovells £135,000
Mayer Brown £135,000
Ashurst £125,000
Reed Smith £125,000
Norton Rose Fulbright £120,000
Simmons & Simmons £120,000
Travers Smith £120,000
K&L Gates £115,000
Katten Muchin Rosenman £115,000
Taylor Wessing £115,000
CMS £110,000
DLA Piper £110,000
Squire Patton Boggs £110,000
BCLP £105,000
Watson Farley & Williams £102,000
Dentons £100,000
Eversheds Sutherland £100,000
HFW £100,000
Stephenson Harwood £100,000
Bird & Bird £98,000
Gowling WLG £98,000
Pinsent Masons £97,000
Shoosmiths £97,000
Mischon de Reya £95,000
Withers £95,000
Osborne Clarke £94,000
Bristows £92,000
RPC £90,000
Charles Russell Speechlys £88,000
Farrer & Co £88,000
Forsters £86,000
Kennedys £85,000
Penningtons Manches Cooper £83,000
Howard Kennedy £82,000
TLT £82,000
Lewis Silkin £81,000
Hill Dickinson £80,300
Clyde & Co £80,000
Harbottle & Lewis £80,000
Trowers & Hamlins £80,000
Womble Bond Dickinson £80,000
Gateley £79,000
Wiggin £79,000
Payne Hicks Beach £78,000
Wedlake Bell £78,000
Irwin Mitchell £76,000
Bates Wells £73,000
Burges Salmon £72,000
Kingsley Napley £72,000
Michelmores £72,000
Weightmans £70,000
Winckworth Sherwood £70,000
Birketts £65,000
Stevens & Bolton £65,000
RWK Goodman £62,000
Walker Morris £61,000
Ashfords £60,000
Foot Anstey £60,000
Mills & Reeve £60,000
Cripps £58,000
Brabners £50,000
Moore Barlow £47,000
Fletchers £36,750
Express Solicitors £36,000
Accutrainee Not applicable
Addleshaw Goddard Undisclosed
Bevan Brittan Undisclosed
DAC Beachcroft Undisclosed
DWF Group Undisclosed
Greenberg Traurig Undisclosed
Haynes and Boone Undisclosed
Morrison Foerster Undisclosed
Russell-Cooke Undisclosed
Shakespeare Martineau Undisclosed

*Law firm pays London-based newly qualified lawyers $225,000. GBP figure calculated via XE.com on 1 November 2024.

You can view all our salary data, including rates for trainees, on our 2025 Legal Cheek Firms Most List.

11 Comments

Balrog

Clyde & Co have seriously fallen down the rankings. From borderline “silver circle” to firmly bottom of the mid-level.

N/A

No Scottish Law firms in this “UK” list, despite the likes of Burness and Brodies outranking a good portion on this list in terms of size, revenue and NQ salary payment.

Scots trainee

What are the nq rates at Burness Paull and Brodies atm?

Scot PQE

What are you smoking?

Anonymous

There is a lot of focus on NQ salaries but the interesting question revolves around salary bunching. The NQ salary at my firm is £97,000, however at 5PQE I’m only on £101,000. Are solicitors at other firms also seeing such salary bunching trends?

Move then...

Legal market is plenty fluid at the moment, you could always move somewhere else?

Mr. Brown

Salary bunching is a real problem among UK firms. For 5PQE, SC firms only pay around £160k and MC firms pay around the £200-220k mark. £100-130k would be mark for any UK firms further down the tier.

Bob the lawyer

The market always moves faster than internal pay. If I were you, I’d start looking elsewhere to maximise your income

Anon

Less than half of RPC’s NQs are on £90k. Their insurance NQs in the same office are on £80k.

Kirkland NQ

Who or what is RPC? Is it a weapon? Can I eat it? Is it shorthand for a little known eastern European autocrat?

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