Bigger bonus pool too

Addleshaw Goddard has opted to hold newly qualified (NQ) lawyer salaries at £100,000 this year, diverting extra funds into a £19 million bonus pool and boosting pay for more experienced associates.

The decision, which the firm said was taken “after careful consideration”, is aimed at addressing what managing partner Andrew Johnston described as salary “compression” — the shrinking gap between junior and senior pay caused by rapid NQ salary hikes across the sector.

“After careful consideration we have decided to hold our NQ rates this year. This allows us to unwind compression between NQ pay and that of more experienced lawyers,” Johnston told The Lawyer. “Whilst we recognise this is a different position to the one others are taking, we believe that we are doing what is right for our people and business, and aligning with the interests of our clients.”

The move redirects £1 million originally earmarked for a junior pay rise into the expanded bonus pool, which Johnston said would ensure “lawyers who have contributed significantly are meaningfully rewarded”.

He added: “We continue to incentivise contributions which deliver strong outcomes for our clients. In line with firm performance, our bonus pot has grown to £19m, which means lawyers who have contributed significantly are meaningfully rewarded.”

AG stressed that trainee development and retention remain priorities, pointing to its 88% retention rate which saw it offer roles to 50 of its 58 qualifying trainees.

The Legal Cheek Firms Most List 2025 shows that AG’s £100k rate matches firms like Mishcon de Reya and is just behind Bird & Bird and Watson Farley & Williams (£102,000).

Addleshaws isn’t the first major law firm to tackle salary bunching. Shoosmiths recently acknowledged that its NQ salary increases had created “understandable concerns around pay compression” when it raised rates from £97,000 to £105,000.

Exclusive: Extra £15k

The London office of international law firm Mayer Brown has increased the salaries of its newly qualified (NQ) associates by 11%.

The uplift means fresh-faced juniors will now earn £150,000, up from £135,000 — bringing the Chicago-founded firm in line with the Magic Circle on NQ pay.

The Legal Cheek Firms Most List shows Mayer Brown takes on up to 14 trainees each year.

As well as matching the Magic Circle, the pay rise sees Mayer Brown overtake firms such as Baker McKenzie and Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer (both £145k), as well as Ashurst and Hogan Lovells (both £140k).

Summer NQ salary rises so far

Firm	Location	NQ Salary (Before)	NQ Salary (After)	Increase
Mayer Brown	London	£135,000	£150,000	£15,000
Baker McKenzie	London	£140,000	£145,000	£5,000
Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer	London	£135,000	£145,000	£10,000
Hogan Lovells	London	£135,000	£140,000	£5,000
Ashurst	London	£125,000	£140,000	£15,000
DLA Piper	London	£110,000	£130,000	£20,000
Travers Smith	London	£120,000	£130,000	£10,000
CMS	London	£110,000	£120,000	£10,000
CMS	Bristol	£70,000	£76,500	£6,500
CMS	Manchester / Sheffield / Liverpool	£62,000	£68,000	£6,000
CMS	Edinburgh / Aberdeen / Glasgow	£60,000	£68,000	£8,000
Gowling WLG	London	£98,000	£105,000	£7,000
Gowling WLG	Birmingham	£64,000	£65,500	£1,500
Gowling WLG	Leeds	£64,000	£65,500	£1,500
HFW	London	£100,000	£103,500	£3,500
Mishcon de Reya	London	£95,000	£100,000	£5,000
RPC	London	£80,000 – £90,000	£85,000 – £95,000	£5,000
RPC	Bristol	£56,000	£60,000	£4,000

Rises for Bristol NQs and trainees too

City law firm RPC has confirmed a fresh round of pay rises for its junior lawyers, with uplifts across both its London and Bristol offices set to take effect from 1 September.

Newly qualified (NQ) solicitors in the firm’s London corporate & commercial and disputes teams will see their base salaries rise to £95,000, up from £90,000. NQs in the London insurance team will receive £85,000, a £5,000 increase on the previous £80,000 rate. Meanwhile, NQs based in the firm’s Bristol office will earn £60,000, marking a £4,000 boost.

Trainees are also benefiting from the firm’s latest round of salary reviews. In London, first-year trainees will now earn £48,000, up from £46,000, while second years will take home £52,000, up from £50,000.

RPC’s Bristol-based rookies will also see their pay bumped with first-year rates rising from £40,000 to £42,000, and second year pay moving from £42,000 to £44,000.

The Legal Cheek Firms Most List shows RPC takes on around 14 trainees annually across its London and Bristol offices.

These uplifts come amid a wave of summer pay increases across the legal sector. Firms including Travers Smith, Mishcon de Reya, and Gowling WLG have all raised junior lawyer salaries in recent weeks.

£130k and £100k

Travers Smith and Mishcon de Reya are the latest major law firms to boost junior lawyer pay, as the summer salary surge continues.

Travers Smith has increased base pay for its newly qualified (NQ) solicitors from £120,000 to £130,000, bringing the firm in line with the likes of DLA Piper and just behind Mayer Brown and Norton Rose Fulbright (£135k). Travers said NQs will also have the potential to earn up to £20,000 as an additional bonus during the financial year.

From this month, trainee pay has also increased to £55,000 in the first year and £60,000 in the second year, up from £54,000 and £59,000 respectively.

Meanwhile, Mishcon de Reya has confirmed a £5,000 rise for its NQs, who will now earn £100,000 from September. The move puts Mishcon’s junior lawyers on par with those at Dentons and HFW, and just behind Bird & Bird and Watson Farley & Williams (both £102k).

And it’s not just the NQs cashing in — trainee solicitors at Mishcon have also received a bump. First-year trainees will now earn £50,000, up from £47,500, while second years take home £55,000, up from £52,500. The new rates came into effect this month.

Commenting on the uplifts, Vanessa Dewhurst, partner and chief people officer at Mishcon, said:

“Each year we review NQ and trainee salaries to ensure competitive rates for our newly qualified (NQ) and trainee lawyers. As part of this review, we have conducted a benchmarking exercise to ensure that our salaries remain attractive, fair and sustainable.”

She continued: “Our people are our greatest asset and we have considered extensively how to ensure we best reward all of our people. We do this through a mix of pay, bonuses and a generous range of benefits as well as the opportunity to work with some of the most interesting clients on some of the most complex legal matters. This ensures that Mishcon de Reya is an attractive destination for the brightest talent and rewards our people for the exceptional contribution they make to our firm.”

The Legal Cheek Firms Most List shows Mishcon recruits around 30 trainees each year.

Mishcon and Travers now join a growing list of firms to boost junior lawyer pay this summer. Other recent uplifts include Ashurst (£140k) and Baker McKenzie (£145k).

Regional NQs now on £65.5k

Gowling WLG has increased pay for its newly qualified (NQ) solicitors, with London lawyers receiving a £7,000 boost to £105,000.

NQs in the firm’s Birmingham and Leeds offices are also seeing a pay rise — albeit a more modest one — with salaries moving from £64,000 to £65,500.

The uplifts bring Gowling’s London NQ pay in line with the likes of Pinsent Masons and BCLP, and ahead of outfits such as Bird & Bird and Watson Farley Williams (£102k).

The Legal Cheek Firms Most List shows Gowling recurits around 25 trainees annually across its UK offices.

Roz Trimmer, HR director at Gowling, said: “We are pleased to have increased salaries for our new associates as part of our continuous drive to provide the very best possible experience for our clients.”

This latest move adds Gowling to the long list of firms boosting NQ pay over the summer. Recent raises include HFW (up to £103.5k), Bird & Bird (up to £102k), DLA Piper (up to £130k), with heavyweights like Ashurst now paying £140k, and HSF Kramer and Baker McKenzie both offering £145k.

£28,090 in London, £24,916 elsewhere

The Law Society of England and Wales has recommended a 2.45% increase in the minimum salary for trainee solicitors, aligning the uplift with the current rate of inflation.

From September 2025, the recommended minimum salary for those undertaking qualifying work experience (QWE) or a training contract will rise to £28,090 in London and £24,916 elsewhere in England and Wales.

This marks a smaller increase compared to the previous year’s uplift of 5.18%, when the recommended rates rose to £27,418 in the capital and £24,320 outside.

Although the recommendation is not legally binding — firms are not obliged to follow it since the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) abolished the statutory minimum in 2014 — the Law Society maintains that the guidance plays an important role in promoting fair and sustainable entry into the profession.

“The minimum salary policy and uplift supports those seeking to enter the profession,” said Law Society president Richard Atkinson. “We encourage employers to consider this recommendation, as paying the recommended minimum salary could have a positive impact on equality and diversity within the legal profession.”

The recommended salary levels are reviewed each summer and adjusted annually in line with the Consumer Price Index’s 12-month rolling inflation rate and other economic indicators.

The recommended rates cover both traditional training contracts and QWE placements under the SQE.

While salaries at the top end of the profession continue to soar — with some City trainees earning over £120k across their two year TC — many aspiring solicitors, particularly those in legal aid or high street firms, are still paid below the recommended minimums.

Open thread

So far, it’s shaping up to be another summer of salary boosts across the City — some relatively minor, others more substantial.

As in previous years, Legal Cheek commenters have questioned what impact these pay rises have further up the ladder, beyond newly qualified (NQ) level.

Are pay bands being squeezed, as some commenters suggest? Or are firms increasing salaries across the PQE levels too?

With this in mind, one Legal Cheek reader dropped below the line on a recent pay story to ask:

“I think it’s time for another article where associates spill the information about band pay…. Great to see all these headlines for NQs but we need to know what’s going on between the PQE bands and only other associates can share this info.”

So, in what’s becoming something of a summer tradition, we’ve created this open thread for our trusty readers to share insider knowledge in the Legal Cheek comments section below. The aim is to build an overview by firm (London or regions), department, class year, and salary (base plus bonus for the latest financial year).

Extra £5,000

Baker McKenzie is the latest City law firm to raise the salaries of its newly qualified (NQ) associates, increasing pay by £5,000 to £145,000.

The uplift, which took effect on 1 July, brings the firm’s London-based NQs in line with their counterparts at Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, which also boosted NQ pay earlier this month.

The Legal Cheek Firms Most List shows trainee salaries remain unchanged at £56,000 in year one and £61,000 in year two. Bakers recruits around 40 trainees each year.

This is the latest in a string of summer salary hikes for NQs at firms including Eversheds Sutherland (up to £110k), Ashurst (up to £140k), DLA Piper (up to £130k), Bird & Bird (up to £102k) and HFW (up to £103.5k).

3.5% rise sees firm join summer salary scramble

International law firm HFW has announced an increase in salaries for its newly qualified (NQ) solicitors, effective immediately.

The shipping specialists confirmed rates for its most junior lawyers will move from £100,000 to £103,500, a nice little bump of 3.5%. The Legal Cheek Firms Most List shows that HFW recruits 18 trainees across its UK offices each year.

The boost comes after City firm Bird & Bird moved its NQ rates from £98,000 to £102,000 on Monday and puts HFW’s pay figures back ahead of TwoBirds (just!).

HFW NQs will now also be out-earning their peers at other firms in the £100k club such as Dentons and Stephenson Harwood, falling just short of their counterparts at Pinsent Masons and BCLP (both on £105,000).

This is the latest of a whole host of summer salary hikes for NQs at HSF Kramer (up to £145k), Eversheds Sutherland (up to £110k), Ashurst (up to £140k), DLA Piper (up to £130k) and more — HFW’s latest move making it clear that the junior lawyer pay war is still very much on.

£10k hike

International law firm Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer has announced that it has increased the salaries of its newly qualified associates in London to £145,000 — up from £135,000.

The boost, effective from today (1 July), comes after City giant Herbert Smith Freehills and US law firm Kramer Levin merged to create HSF Kramer last month.

The £145k rate takes the newly-formed firm ahead of fellow City outfits Ashurst and Hogan Lovells — both of which raised NQ pay to £140k this summer — and approaches the £150k figure doled out to Magic Circle NQs.

The Legal Cheek Firms Most List shows that HSF Kramer takes on around 60 trainees each year.

Commenting on the firm’s salaries, Jeremy Walden, executive partner, UK & EMEA, at HSF Kramer, said:

“We invest in our people at every stage of their careers through a balanced and competitive reward structure. As one of the leading global law firms in today’s fast-moving market, this is important for us to be able to strengthen the experience we deliver to our clients, to maintain our firm’s culture and to ensure the firm’s continued success and growth.”

This is the latest in a slew of NQ pay rises over the last few weeks, with firms like DLA Piper (£110,000 to £130,000) and CMS (£110,000 to £120,000) as well as Bird & Bird (£98,000 to £102,000), Eversheds Sutherland (£100,000 to £110,000) and Pinsent Masons (£97,000 to £105,000) all announcing summer boosts to their most junior lawyers’ salaries.

£110k and £105k

Eversheds Sutherland and Pinsent Masons are the latest law firms to dish out pay rises to their newly qualified associates.

Eversheds has upped salaries for its London-based NQs to £110,000 — a 10% rise from the current £100,000.

Meanwhile, Pinsents has increased its London NQ salaries from £97,000 to £105,000, representing an 8% rise.

Both increases take effect from September.

In the regions, Pinsents also confirmed NQ rates will move from £63,000 to £66,500.

The pay boosts follow recent rises at Ashurst (£125,000 to £140,000), DLA Piper (£110,000 to £130,000), and CMS (£110,000 to £120,000).

The Legal Cheek Firms Most List shows Eversheds recruits around 50 trainees each year, while Pinsents takes on 60.

Performance-based extras give non-US firms a way to compete

Several UK law firms have recently revamped their bonus structures, aiming to retain the hardest-working juniors amid tough pay competition.

From this summer, City firm Simmons & Simmons will reward associates who record over 1,800 billable hours with mega bonuses of between 25 per cent and 40 per cent of their salary, according to an internal memo seen by the Financial Times (£). This updated scheme, which sets out the specific amounts up for grabs, replaces the previous “discretionary” bonus structure.

For Simmons’ most junior associates, on salaries of £120,000, these bonuses could range from £30,000 to £48,000. To receive the top end rewards, associates will have to record a whopping 2,100 chargeable hours.

The firm said this refreshed structure is “a central part of our efforts to develop and retain talent … supporting associates across the firm and rewarding them commensurately for their efforts is crucial.”

Simmons isn’t the only firm targeting their generosity towards the most profitable lawyers. Associates at national outfit RPC can now earn bonuses up to an extra 30 per cent of their salary, up from 20 per cent last year.

RPC associates hitting the firm’s target of 1,575 hours a year — at least 1,500 billable hours and up to 75 hours “investment time” — will receive a base-level bonus of five per cent, increasing by one per cent for every 25 additional billable hours recorded.

Managing partner Antony Sassi called this a “more modern, inclusive and sustainable approach to reward — and one we believe reflects the evolving expectations of the next generation of legal talent.”

These targets are for billable hours, meaning time charged to the firm’s clients. Billable hours don’t include time spent in internal meetings, pitching for work, delivering client seminars and other non-chargeable tasks. Billing 2,000 hours a year can often mean working frequent 12-hour (or longer!) days.

Addressing concerns around junior lawyer burnout, Shoosmiths have capped their bonus rewards at 1,900 hours, not wanting to encourage “anyone to work excessive hours chasing a bonus with no cap.” Shoosmiths’ bonus scheme offers up to 19 per cent of salary for associates billing over 1,485 hours.

Meanwhile, Magic Circle player Linklaters is shifting their bonus system away from a focus on billable hours, according to RollOnFriday. From the next financial year, bonus rewards focus more on rewarding associates who excel at generating revenue, cross-selling and those participating enthusiastically in department initiatives

Earlier this year, The Times (£) reported that A&O Shearman used bonuses to encourage office attendance among juniors, threatening to withhold performance related pay from associates who flouted the firm’s three-day-a-week policy and continued to work remotely.

Follows Magic Circle firm’s decision to up newly qualified salaries last September

Slaughter and May has opted to hold its salaries for newly qualified (NQ) solicitors at £150,000 as part of its spring pay review.

The move is unsurprising given that the firm raised NQ remuneration by £25k from £125,000 as recently as September 2024 and doesn’t preclude the possibility of an autumn pay rise this year.

The other Magic Circle firms — A&O Shearman, Clifford Chance, Freshfields and Linklaters — all increased their NQ pay levels to £150k last May, with Slaughters then playing catch-up a few months later. None have yet come out publicly to say what they are doing with NQ pay this year. With some US firms in London offering up to £180,000 for NQ solicitors, they are under constant pressure to boost rookie salaries.

The Financial Times has this morning framed the news as “a sign that a fierce war for legal talent in the City may be cooling for the first time since the Covid pandemic”, citing “lower dealmaking volumes resulting from Donald Trump’s US trade war, along with higher salary costs following sharp increases in recent years”.

All eyes will now be on the other Magic Circle firms to determine whether this narrative is correct.

Womble Bond Dickinson associate discusses monthly budget

A young lawyer has taken to TikTok to discuss her monthly budget and how she spends her hard-earned cash.

Mia Siddique, a junior associate at Womble Bond Dickinson, qualified into the firm’s Southampton office in September 2023. While not revealing the numbers on her paycheque — and careful to distance herself from top junior salaries in the capital: “I don’t work out of London so no, I’m not on hundreds of thousands of pounds” — Siddique has provided a breakdown of her monthly outgoings, increasing transparency around legal salaries.

@legallypossible Having struggled my entire life through balancing multiple jobs whilst studying, growing up in a council house and living paycheck to paycheck, it’s a huge privilege to be able to do these videos and finally be in a position of financial stability. I don’t take it for granted and I share these videos for others who are interested, who want to learn how to budget better or who want to see that it’s possible to earn a comfortable salary no matter your background. This is after all deductions eg pension, taxes, employee benefits etc! #lawyer #solicitor #socialmobility #anythingispossible #budget #budgeting #lawyersalary #budgetwithme #payday #finance #savings ♬ original sound – mia | lawyer

Having purchased her first home recently, Siddique sets aside £1,400 each month for mortgage repayment and household bills, while £250 goes on personal bills, including her phone bill and car insurance, and she normally allots around £220 a month for food shopping.

The junior lawyer revealed that she spends £130 each month on beauty products and treatments, telling her followers: “Getting your nails done, getting your lashes done and buying nice skincare is such a privilege. I am very grateful and do acknowledge that.”

She aims to spend £150 a month on travel, living a 3 hour commute from the office, where she works “once or twice a week”. £350 goes on birthday presents for friends and family and £200 towards furniture and home decor.

This month she is spending £100 paying off a previous holiday and while she had planned spend no more than £200 eating out, she has already overspent on this: “I always find myself, as soon as I get paid, going absolutely crazy!”

Any money she doesn’t spend this month, will go into her savings.

In the video’s caption, Siddique reflects on her financial backstory:

“Having struggled my entire life through balancing multiple jobs whilst studying, growing up in a council house and living paycheque to paycheque, it’s a huge privilege to be able to do these videos and finally be in a position of financial stability.”

Viewers in the comments compared Siddique’s monthly spend to their own financial situations. One user commented: “Girl, I pay £1,550 for rent in London and bills are added on”; another added “£2,700 a month on our mortgage alone in Essex… silly prices here!”. Others praised her openness about money, “Love the transparency!!!”.

An envious fellow lawyer joked, “This is a great salary. My lawyer salary in north of England doesn’t cut it ” while others left messages of support: “I am so happy that you got that finanical freedom, you worked so hard for it I remember watching you right from the start! Keep shining Mia! ”

14% uplift

Orrick has boosted the salaries of its newly qualified (NQ) lawyers in London to £160,000.

This marks a £20,000 increase from the previous rate of £140,000, representing a 14.3% raise.

Trainee pay remains unchanged, with first-years continuing to earn £55,000, rising to £60,000 in their second year.

Orrick has strengthened its position among the highest-paying law firms in the City with this latest move. The increase puts it ahead of the entire Magic Circle, where NQs currently earn £150,000 following the 2024 pay war. The US firm now matches Jones Day at £160,000 and sits just behind Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, which offers £164,500.

Mark Beeley, Orrick’s London office leader, commented:

“We are committed to ensuring our top, hard-working talent have a compensation package at the level of the firms with which we compete in the talent market – and to complement that with opportunities to counsel some of the most innovative clients. This move is part of that package.”

The Legal Cheek Firms Most List 2025 shows Orrick recruits around 12 trainees each year in London.

12.5% raise

Norton Rose Fulbright has raised the salary for its newly qualified (NQ) lawyers in London to £135,000.

This marks a £15,000 increase from the previous salary of £120,000, representing a raise of 12.5%. The new rate takes effect on 1 April.

Trainee pay remains unchanged, with the City cohort earning £50,000 in the first year and £55,000 in the second year.

This latest pay raise brings NRF’s London NQ salary ahead of outfits including Ashurst and Reed Smith which both offer £125,000 on qualification, and in line with Herbert Smith Freehills, Hogan Lovells and Mayer Brown.

NRF confirmed that salaries have been raised throughout the ranks, and that NQs who “achieve the required hours” are now able to earn between £143,000 and £189,000.

The Legal Cheek Firms Most List 2025 shows that the firm takes on around 50 trainees each year in its London office, with 80% of trainees retained in the Autumn.

A spokesperson for the firm said:

“As a firm, we are committed to providing competitive remuneration, through a combination of base salary, performance bonus and benefits. We believe this change will allow us to continue to attract the best talent in the market, as well as ensuring our high performing lawyers at all levels are rewarded competitively for their contribution.”

The Legal Cheek team discuss Simmons’ new and improved £96k NQ pay in Bristol — listen now

What motivates aspiring lawyers as they choose where to start their careers? How much does money matter?

This week, Legal Cheek editor Thomas Connelly and writers Sophie Dillon and Lydia Fontes discuss the news that Simmons & Simmons are raising their Bristol NQ salary to £96k, setting a record for regional junior pay. We explore how the salary increase will affect the Bristol legal market and what it means for those pursuing training contracts.

You can listen to the podcast in full via the embed above, or on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

£22 million

Apple’s top lawyer earned an astounding $27.2 million (£21.4 million) last year, far exceeding the earnings of partners at elite City law firms.

Stock awards formed the largest portion of Kate Adams’ earnings, Apple’s General Counsel, amounting to $22.2 million (£17.5 million). This was supplemented by a base salary of $1 million (£786,000) and an additional $4 million (£3.2 million) in cash compensation, according to Bloomberg Law. This impressive package cements Adams’ status as one of the highest-paid lawyers in the world.

Adams, who joined Apple in 2017, has also been cashing in on her stock holdings.

According to the website, over the past four years she has sold approximately $140 million (£110 million) worth of Apple shares, including $43.7 million (£34.4 million) in 2024 alone. Even after these sales, she still apparently holds shares valued at $42.4 million (£33.4 million).

Focusing on her £21.4 million earnings last year, The Legal Cheek Firms Most List 2025 shows that Adams earned roughly ten times the average profit per equity partner (PEP) at a Magic Circle firm, where the figure usually hovers around £2 million.

Adams’ remuneration highlights the vast earning potential for in-house legal chiefs at multinational corporations, outpacing even the most lucrative roles in private practice.

Adams oversees Apple’s legal matters, including compliance, intellectual property, litigation, and privacy — a significant remit for a company frequently embroiled in high-stakes legal battles. This month alone, Apple settled a $95 million (£74.7 million) lawsuit over allegations that its voice assistant Siri violated users’ privacy.

Reflecting on her career in a recent talk at the University of Chicago Law School, Adams highlighted the increasing complexity of in-house legal roles. “These jobs have gone from sort-of lifestyle jobs to the work being incredibly challenging, extremely interesting, and very demanding,” she said.

Whopping 25% increase

Simmons & Simmons has raised the salaries of its newly qualified (NQ) associates in Bristol by over 25%, setting a new pay record in the process

Fresh-faced associates will now earn a hefty £96,000, a 25.5% increase on the previous £76,500 figure at the firm’s Bristol office.

Taking effect from May 2025, the new salary figure puts Simmons’ NQs thousands of pounds ahead of their rivals at other leading firms in Bristol. Osborne Clarke boosted its NQ pay up by 2.8% last summer to £72,000, with Burges Salmon following suit in October 2024, raising NQ rates from £68,000 to £72,000. Newly-qualified lawyers at RPC’s Bristol office are paid £56,000.

Simmons’ trainees in Bristol receive £47,500 in their first year, increasing to £49,500 in their second. In London, Simmons NQs can expect a £120,000 pay packet whilst trainees see £52,000 and £57,000 respectively in their first and second years at the firm.

The Legal Cheek Firms Most List 2025 shows that Simmons recruits around 24 trainees each year across its London and Bristol offices.

Caroline Turner-Inskip, head of Simmons’ Bristol office, commented:

“Making this move not only rewards our Bristol lawyers for their high performance levels, but also helps us to continue to retain and attract top talent in the years ahead, and develop our associate and partner pipeline outside of London. We want to be the number one destination for the best and most ambitious lawyers living in the area — or moving to the area from London — and see these changes as a really important part of this aim.”

Extra 8%

Sullivan & Cromwell has raised trainee salaries in its London office, joining US rival Davis Polk at the top of the rookie pay table.

Legal Cheek can reveal the firm has increased first year rates to £65,000 while those a year ahead will earn £70,000. Trainees at the firm previously earned £60,000 and £65,000, with the increases representing an 8% rise.

The rises take effect on 1 January 2025.

The Legal Cheek Firms Most List 2025 shows the boost brings Sullivan & Cromwell level with Davis Polk, which upped salaries to the same levels back in October of this year.

Working our way down the pay table, Paul Hastings offers second-year trainees a salary of £68,000, while White & Case provides £67,000 for trainees in the latter half of their contracts. Meanwhile, several other firms, including Akin, Gibson Dunn, Jones Day, Kirkland & Ellis, and Morrison Foerster, offer £65,000.

Sullivan & Cromwell recruits around eight UK trainees each year, with those staying on after qualification earning a hefty $225,000, roughly £177,000 based on the firm’s conversion rate.

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