UK Law Firm Salaries Continue Upwards With Two More Firms Lifting NQs Salaries

The war for legal talent continues unabated as two biglaw UK firms have announced increases in their payments to newly-qualified lawyers, showing that the surge in law profession payments has hardly abated.

The influence of US biglaw firms’ salary levels sent the London and other UK law firms into a major, upward spiral, which commenced when Bingham McCutchen became the firms firm to offer NQs£100,000 in London in 2010.

Now, the top of the market is approaching £150,000 and more than a dozen firms offer the magic £100k.

The magic circle and other large international firms are having trouble keeping up with the ever-rising UK law firm salaries. Most have far more trainees compared to their US rivals and simply cannot afford to pay every one of them such high salaries.

The most recent UK law firms, Clyde & Co and Fieldfisher, show a rise of 14 per cent rise in its London NQ salaries from £70,000 a year to £80,000 from this month.

Fieldfisher also lifted its NQ pay from next month, by 10 per cent from £77,000 to £85,000 in London and by 11 per cent from £45,000 to £50,000 elsewhere.