Big Law Salary Scale

big law salary scale

Freshfields Cut Its European Partners. Its New York Partners Got A Raise.

Freshfield

Freshfields’ US growth ambitions has forced out equity partners across London, Paris and Germany, the Financial Times reported on 13 July, weeks after a pay overhaul left dozens of its roughly 500 partners holding fewer equity points.

Freshfields reset its internal exchange rate from $1.60 to the pound down to about $1.30, then handed extra points to its top US earners so their dollar pay held. Points are a share of a fixed pool and Freshfields’ European partners are the pool.

The Financial Times reported this week that Freshfields has culled equity partners in recent weeks, with its London headquarters and its Paris and German offices all seeing exits and equity downgrades.

City AM ran it as a shake-up to fund the American push, which it is. What neither write-up reached is the ledger entry that explains it, and that ledger entry has been sitting in public since March.
Log in to read . . .

Freshfields Cut Its European Partners. Its New York Partners Got A Raise. Read More »

Australia’s First $10 Million Law Partner? The Race Is On

Australia lawyer earnings

Australia is on the cusp of producing its first A$10 million‑a‑year law firm partner – and the smart money says that partner will sit at Corrs Chambers Westgarth or Gilbert + Tobin, according to a legal journalist who should know.

Veteran legal affairs journalist Michael Pelly made the claim in his Capital Brief’s Prima Facie newsletter, reporting that Australian legal partner earnings at the very top of the market have accelerated sharply since the pandemic, driven by fierce competition for rainmakers and a sustained boom in high‑value corporate work.
Log in to read . .

Australia’s First $10 Million Law Partner? The Race Is On Read More »

Macfarlanes Leapfrogs Transatlantic Rivals with Latest Salary Bump

London Law

NQ Salaries Hit £150k in Latest Pay War Salvo Norma Harris The London salary wars continue with Macfarlanes bumping its newly qualified (NQ) base pay from £140,000 to £150,000. Effective 1 July, the £10k increase officially aligns the firm with the UK Magic Circle’s current baseline, cementing its status among the top tier of native

Macfarlanes Leapfrogs Transatlantic Rivals with Latest Salary Bump Read More »

US Powerhouse Simpson Thacher Unleashes Elite Private Equity Training Scheme With Eye-Watering £178K NQ Payout

Simpson thacher lawfuel

The London legal market just got another massive jolt as US mega-firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett muscles further into City territory.

Simpson Thacher, a private equity titan, the elite New York-headquartered firm has officially launched its first-ever formal UK training contract, which they are backing it up with serious Wall Street cash showing – once again – how the big money US firms are reshaping the London legal scene.

US Powerhouse Simpson Thacher Unleashes Elite Private Equity Training Scheme With Eye-Watering £178K NQ Payout Read More »

Big Law Pay Rates – The Resentful Middle Tier: QE’s £189k Move Is Squeezing London’s Senior Associates

Rollsroyce london

London Law’s Senior Associate Problem No One Wants to Talk About Fresh from Quinn Emanuel joining the fray in London, as we reported last week, the latest 5% across-the-board hike has pushed newly qualified lawyers to £189,000 from 1 July, with the scale running up to £373,000 for the most experienced associates. That puts QE

Big Law Pay Rates – The Resentful Middle Tier: QE’s £189k Move Is Squeezing London’s Senior Associates Read More »

Litigation Won The First Round Of The 2026 Pay War

Biglaw payday lawfuel

The deal firms have not yet decided what to tell the market in the Pay War KEY TAKEAWAY: Six firms have matched Milbank’s 2 June 2026 scale of $235K–$455K. Every one — McDermott Will & Schulte, Hueston Hennigan, Quinn Emanuel, Katten, Texas litigation boutique Vartabedian Katz Hester Haynes, and Dunn Isaacson Rhee on bonuses —

Litigation Won The First Round Of The 2026 Pay War Read More »

Quinn Emanuel Joins the Fray: London Juniors Now Pocket £189k as the Pay Wars Heat Up

Richard east quinn emanuel

Hot on the heels of Milbank breaking the long freeze and kicking off the 2026 pay war stateside, London litigation powerhouse Quinn Emanuel has cranked up its associate pay by 5% across the board. Effective 1 July 2026, newly qualified lawyers in the firm’s City office will now take home £189,000 (up from £180k), with

Quinn Emanuel Joins the Fray: London Juniors Now Pocket £189k as the Pay Wars Heat Up Read More »

Milbank Breaks The Freeze And BigLaw’s 2026 Pay War Is Back On

Milbank lawfuel

It took longer than anyone on r/biglaw thought possible, but the BigLaw salary scale has finally moved and, in news that will shock precisely nobody, Milbank is once again the firm doing the heavy lifting for everyone else’s associates. The firm has announced a new associate pay scale effective 1 July 2026, with raises ranging

Milbank Breaks The Freeze And BigLaw’s 2026 Pay War Is Back On Read More »

The Phantom Raise: Why The 2026 BigLaw Scale Hasn’t Moved — And Which Firm Breaks First

Cravathscale image

It is May 2026, and the BigLaw salary scale has not moved for two and a half years.

That sentence would have sounded unthinkable in 2021, when Milbank ignited a comp war that pushed first-year associates from $190,000 to $215,000 in eight weeks. Three years on, Class of 2025 first-years are starting on $225,000 — the same number Milbank put on the board in November 2023. Eighth-years are still on $435,000. Cravath confirmed in its November 18, 2025 bonus memo, in writing, that base salaries would not rise in 2026.

The lockstep is intact. The escalator has stopped.

So when does it start again, we ask – and presumably you want the answer to that so we’ve done our best to pose some on-the-button questions.

Log in and check how the salary scale looks now . . .

The Phantom Raise: Why The 2026 BigLaw Scale Hasn’t Moved — And Which Firm Breaks First Read More »

Scroll to Top