Salary may not be the be all and end all for NQs but let’s face it, it’s pretty significant. As we said in our recent blog How important is remuneration for NQ and junior solicitors when they’re looking to move firms? other factors, such as work/life balance, do come into play.
But after years of hard toil to get to the point of qualification, who could blame a junior solicitor for demanding a law firm to “Show me the money!”?
If big bucks are your sole driver and the thought of giving your life and soul to your job a la The Firm doesn’t faze you, try to find a spot at a top US firm. Competition is fierce as due to their headcount in London they have far fewer vacancies at the junior level. And, it’s certainly not for the faint-hearted. Although not all US firms in London pay over £100,000, lots do. Latham & Watkins, Skadden and Sidley Austin all pay around the £120,000 mark. Kirkland & Ellis and Akin Gump both pay in dollars ($180,000), which equates to a staggering £140,000 at the current exchange rate.
Magic circle firms don’t try to keep pace with salaries like these but the pay for NQs is still very healthy. Freshfields hiked NQ salaries last year by almost 26% to £85,000 but has kept them unchanged this year. With bonuses, NQs can expect to earn up to £97,000.
Slaughter and May also announced that it is not increasing base pay for newly qualifieds for 2017/18 – NQs will receive £78,000. Clifford Chance has reportedly lifted base NQ pay by 2.7% this year, but the firm has declined to comment, as has Allen & Overy who last year paid NQs a base salary of £78,500.
Linklaters has increased base pay for newly qualifieds from £77,500 to £78,500 this year, but this tells only part of the story. NQs are categorised by the firm as either “high performers” or “median performers” and receive different bonuses accordingly. It is estimated that NQs at the firm will earn somewhere between £82,000 to £92,000.
Within the silver circle, Herbert Smith Freehills has frozen London trainee and associate salaries for 2017/18, but high performers can still expect to take home between £82,000 to £90,000. Ashurst has raised NQ salaries to £72,000 per annum.
Elsewhere in the top 30 (outside the magic and silver cirles), Norton Rose Fulbright NQs will receive £75,000, which compares favourably to those at CMS (£67,500), Dentons (£65,000), Taylor Wessing and Clyde & Co (both £63,000)
Among the national big-hitters, DLA Piper has raised London NQ salaries by 7% to £75,000 although their colleagues outside London will receive £42,000. It’s a similar story at Eversheds Sutherland, whose London-based NQs will start on £64,000 while those in the regions will be on £41,500. Addleshaw Goddard’s London NQs will start on £62,000 with their regional counterparts on £40,000. Meanwhile, DWF’s London NQs will be paid £59,000, with those in the regions on £38,000 and in Scotland £36,000.
Among mid-sized London firms, newly qualifieds at law firm of the year Mishcon de Reya will receive £67,000, Bristows is paying £63,000 to its NQs, with Farrer & Co NQs receiving £60,000 and those at Collier Bristow £53,000.
Although the size of a firm is a good rule of thumb as to what it pays its NQs (bigger is usually better), it is not the only factor. Several boutique firms pay their newly qualified solicitors handsomely though they expect exceptional commitment and the work/life balance can be similar to that at a big US or magic circle firm.
This is a snapshot of what some firms pay its NQs and isn’t exhaustive. If you have specific queries about NQ salaries or are thinking of moving firm – whether motivated solely by money or otherwise! – please get in touch.