Willkie Pushes London NQ Salaries to £180,000 as BigLaw Pay War Escalates
US law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher has lifted the salaries of its newly qualified lawyers in London to a market-topping £180,000, placing it firmly among the highest-paying firms in the City.
The increase represents a £10,000 rise, or just under six percent, and brings Willkie’s London NQs into line with peers at elite US firms including Davis Polk & Wardwell, Gibson Dunn, and Paul Weiss, all of which currently pay their London-based junior lawyers at the same level.
The move follows major issues for Willkie with a talent walkout last year and a fraud lawsuit that we reported recently.
The move reflects the continuing salary arms race among US firms in London, where American firms have steadily pushed pay far beyond traditional Magic Circle levels in a bid to attract top associates.
Willkie’s London office is relatively small but highly profitable, focusing on areas such as private equity, restructuring, asset management, and high-stakes litigation. The firm typically offers around seven training contracts annually, with trainee salaries starting at £60,000 in the first year and rising to £65,000 in the second, according to recent industry data.
The pay bump follows a similar moves that we reported last year and more recently by Ropes & Gray, which confirmed just a day earlier that it had increased its London NQ salaries from £165,000 to £170,000.
BigLaw’s London Pay Race Shows No Sign of Slowing
The latest increases underline how aggressively US firms continue to compete for talent in London. While traditional UK firms have raised associate salaries in recent years, most still lag well behind the top US packages.
For newly qualified lawyers willing to tolerate the famously intense workload, the rewards can be substantial. A £180,000 starting salary places junior associates firmly among the highest-paid young professionals in the UK legal market.
For law students and trainees watching the market, the message is clear. The London BigLaw pay war is alive and well, and the numbers keep creeping higher.
