Lawyer Salaries

Texas Trial Powerhouse McKool Smith Joins the Milbank Pay Scale (With a Delayed Start)

Best Firms, Big Law Salary Scale, Law Firm Rankings, Law Firm Salary Scale, Lawyer Salaries / August 22, 2026

McKool Smith has confirmed it will match the current Milbank associate salary scale, with the new pay rates taking effect on 1 January 2027. The Texas-based complex trial firm, known for competitive associate compensation which have reported previously, that has included Thanksgiving bonuses, strong year-end payouts, and market-matching raises, is lifting base salaries by $10,000

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Clifford Chance Goes to War Over $5.8 Million Partner Clawback: Behind the High-Stakes Geneva Battle

BigLaw, Lawyer Salaries, Rankings, UK Law / August 21, 2026

Key Points: Clifford Chance has asked the US District Court for the Southern District of New York to dismiss a declaratory-judgment action brought by former partners Clifford Cone and Michael Sabin and compel arbitration in Geneva, Switzerland, over the firm’s attempted recovery of almost $5.76 million in prior compensation. The firm described the lawsuit as

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Ice Miller Joins the Biglaw Salary Race for New York Associates — With Raises Delayed Until 2027

Big Law Salary Scale, Featured, Law Firm Salary Scale, Lawpreneur, Lawyer Salaries, US Law / August 13, 2026

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The latest round of Biglaw associate salary increases has been unusually quiet this summer, with only a handful of firms matching Milbank’s elevated scale. Ice Miller has now joined the fray but with conditions – it is only for its New York associates, and the higher paychecks won’t arrive until next year. The firm announced

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Intellectual property emerges as Big Law’s newest consolidation catalyst

Big Law Salary Scale, Law Firm Salary Scale, Law Firms, Lawyer Salaries, Press Releases, US Law / August 6, 2026

The merger of US-based Winston & Strawn with Taylor Wessing’s UK-led business is set to test demand for intellectual property counsel capable of straddling the geographic divide. But unlike most transatlantic partnerships, IP was not just another practice area in need of integration — it was a “key driver” of the decision to join forces, two Winston

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

Big Law Salary Scale, BigLaw, Headlining, Lawyer Salaries, UK Law / July 15, 2026

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

Australia Law News, Big Law Salary Scale, BigLaw, Briefings, Featured, Law Firm Management, Law Firm Marketing, Lawyer Salaries, Power Briefs, Rankings / July 10, 2026

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.
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Macfarlanes Leapfrogs Transatlantic Rivals with Latest Salary Bump

Big Law Salary Scale, Featured, Lawyer Salaries, Power Briefs, Rankings, UK Law / July 3, 2026

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

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AI Law Firm Scores UK Courtroom First

Big Law Salary Scale, Featured, Law Firms, Lawyer Salaries, Opinion, Quirky, UK Law / June 23, 2026

Tom Borman, LawFuel contributing editor An AI-only law firm, Garfield, has just notched up what is being billed as the first courtroom win by an “AI lawyer” against human opposition in England in a story made for law marketing, legal tech and AI-watchers. An AI-only law firm that once made headlines for sending “polite chaser”

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

Big Law Salary Scale, Law Firm Salary Scale, Lawyer Salaries, UK Law / June 15, 2026

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.

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

Big Law Salary Scale, Featured, Lawyer Salaries, UK Law / June 12, 2026

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

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