Linklaters has announced rises of nearly 4% for junior lawyers as several major law firms last week defied predictions that the slowdown would leave pay bands unchanged this year.
A newly-qualified (NQ) solicitor at the magic circle law firm is now set to earn £66,600, up from £64,000 in 2007, as exclusively revealed on legalweek.com (30 April).
The percentage increase drops to 2% for lawyers with one-year post-qualification experience (PQE), who will earn £70,400. Second-year-qualified lawyers see a similar rise, moving from £81,000 to £82,600. Pay for a third-year-qualified lawyer rises from £89,000 to £90,800. Trainees’ pay will rise 4% from £36,000 to £37,400 in the first seat.
The rises put Linklaters ahead of starting salaries offered at Clifford Chance (CC), Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Allen & Overy (A&O), which have all yet to announce their 2008-09 pay structure.
The move represents a far more modest rise than the bumper increase of 16% unveiled by Linklaters last year but marks the third consecutive year in which the firm has raised its core pay bands for junior lawyers.
The move will be seen as an expression of the firm’s confidence, given that the global turmoil in credit markets and the slowdown in deal activity had led some City lawyers to predict that pay bands would go unchanged this year.
In addition, Linklaters also operates what is regarded as one of the most generous bonus schemes in the City, which can allow top performers to earn as much as 50% of their base salary.
New York’s Shearman & Sterling also last week (29 April) announced a 7% hike for some junior London-based associates, putting its NQs on £80,000 a year - among the highest rates in the City.
Bird & Bird also announced it was raising its pay bands, though the firm has traditionally paid less than larger London counterparts. NQs at the top 30 UK firm will see their salaries rise from £55,000 to £60,000 - an increase of 9%. Bird & Bird has confirmed increases across all of its associate pay bands, although first year trainees gain the largest increase, with their pay rising by more than 19% to £37,000, up from a previous mark of £31,000.
However, these rises were in contrast to Herbert Smith, which announced last week that it would maintain the same pay bands for its assistants, which means newly-qualified lawyers will earn £64,000.
Evidence of continued pay inflation for the junior lawyers will put renewed pressure on leading City firms to at least put in place
inflation-linked rises to their assistant track.
In comparison, Freshfields and A&O currently pay NQs £65,000, with CC offering £63,500. Freshfields is expected to announce the results of its pay review shortly.
Track assistant solicitor pay deals at legalweek.com/wiki
