Rises up the ladder too
US outfit Debevoise & Plimpton has increased its newly qualified (NQ) lawyer salary for London recruits to £173,100
This marks a 3% increase from the previous salary of £168,000, while trainee pay remains at £55,000 for first-year rookies and £60,000 for second-years.
Further up the ladder, those with one year of post-qualification experience (PQE) will earn £173,100, while those with two and three years of PQE will earn £180,800 and £200,000, respectively.
The Legal Cheek Firms Most List 2025 shows that Debevoise takes on around 10 trainees each year, with the firm’s most recent retention rate clocking in at an impressive 100%.
The new NQ pay bumps the firm up the rankings of top-paying law firms. It leapfrogs Davis Polk & Wardwell and Weil Gotshal & Manges (£170,000), Milbank (£170,455), Fried Frank (£173,000), Morgan Lewis (£173,000), and Vinson & Elkins (£173,077).
The uplift follows a bumper 2024 for junior lawyer salaries, during which the average NQ pay rose by 7.5%, with some increases reaching as high as 20%. The top payers remain Gibson Dunn and Paul Weiss, offering an eye-watering £180,000 (excluding bonuses).
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