Pinsent Masons, Hammonds and Wragge & Co have become the latest regional outfits to unveil associate salary rates for the coming year, with differences between the firms’
London and regional bases coming to the fore.
Pinsents has raised its newly-qualified (NQ) rates in the City to £64,000, with a £1,000 increase on last year, equating to a 1.6% rise.
Lawyers in the firm’s Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds and Manchester offices will also see salaries increase by £1,000 to £41,000 — an increase that equates to an uplift of 2.5%.
Lawyers in Scotland have seen the biggest rise, however, with NQ rates for the coming year standing at £37,000 — a 9% increase on last year’s figure of £34,000.
Hammonds’ new benchmark puts it marginally behind Pinsents, with London NQs now taking home £62,000, up from £60,000 last year.
The firm has also narrowed the salary band for lawyers with one year’s post qualification experience (PQE).
Rates in the firm’s regional offices in Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester have been frozen at £40,000 for NQs and £42,000 for lawyers with one year’s experience.
Meanwhile, Wragge & Co has raised its City NQ rate by £1,000 to £63,000 and similar increases in Birmingham see pay rise to £41,000 from £40,000 — an increase of 1.6% and 2.5% respectively.
The new rates follow substantial increases last year, when a number of regional firms broke the £40,000 barrier for NQs outside London while those in the City saw basic pay breaching £60,000.
In separate pay news, Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft’s London office has frozen its NQ salary at £75,000 after last year’s £5,000 hike.
Meanwile, Dechert has raised its NQ rate by 2% to £69,000, while average salaries for lawyers with one year’s PQE rise to £76,500 from £73,000.
Stay up to speed with all the latest salary changes with the Legal Week Wiki pay league.
