The firm announced today (19 June) that from 1 September first-year trainees will receive a 4% pay rise, taking their salaries from £36,000 to £37,500.
Second-year trainees, meanwhile, see their salary increase from £40,000 to £42,500 – a rise of just over 6%.
Rates for qualified lawyers remain unchanged for the time being although the firm conceded that they will be looked at again later this year.
Herbert Smith announced in April that it would be freezing its associate salary rates, leaving a newly-qualified solicitor (NQ) on £64,000. Lawyers with one year’s post-qualification experience (PQE) pocket £69,000 with those with two years’ PQE earning £81,000.
While many City leaders announced modest salary increases in line with inflation, Herbert Smith was among a handful of top
A spokesperson for Herbert Smith told Legal Week: “We were the first of the major firms to announce and some of our peer firms than announced they were moving their bands and we found ourselves out of line. We appreciate remuneration can be a tipping point for new recruits.”
Olswang also initially froze its NQ pay before performing a U-turn earlier this month and announcing a £1,500 hike in basic pay.
Stay up to speed with all the latest salary changes with the Legal Week Wiki pay league.
