£100k and £88k
City law firms are continuing to splash the cash to ensure they attract and retain the best junior lawyer talent.
Hogan Lovells confirmed newly qualified (NQ) base rates now sit at £100,000, an uplift of 11% from £90,000. The firm added that its freshly-minted associates will also be eligible for performance-related bonuses of up to 35% of salary, which could see pay packets swell to as much as £135,000.
The move puts Hogan Lovells’ NQs on the same cash levels as many of their magic circle counterparts, with Clifford Chance, Linklaters and Allen & Overy all upping base rates to £100k in recent weeks.
Hogan Lovells’ London trainees are cashing in too, with year one salary bands moving from £46,000 to £47,500, and year two bands rising from £51,000 to £52,500 — uplifts of 3% across the board.
In other pay rise news, Simmons & Simmons has upped NQ rates in London to £88,000, a boost of 5% from £84,000. Salaries are also up 5% in the firm’s Bristol office, from £53,500 to £56,000.
The Legal Cheek Firms Most List shows Hogan Lovells and Simmons dish out around 50 and 24 training contracts, respectively.
Yesterday, Legal Cheek reported Macfarlanes had upped NQ rates by 6% to £90,000, with the firm saying it expects newbie associates to “earn in excess of £100k this financial year taking into account all elements of their package”.
