Exclusive: Matching money moves made by the magic circle, Kirkland & Ellis, HSF and Hogan Lovells
Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) has increased its Legal Practice Course (LPC) maintenance grant by 43%.
NRF becomes the ninth firm to bolster its LPC award after confirming it will be dishing out £10,000 in living support to its future trainees, a rise of £3,000. The increase will apply to trainees who started their LPC studies in February this year and will continue for all future intakes. The City outfit — which offers around 45 training contracts each year — also fully funds LPC fees.
The firm’s rookies undertake an accelerated version of the vocational course (seven-and-a-half months instead of the standard 12) at BPP Law School’s Holborn branch.
Today’s news comes just weeks after Legal Cheek revealed that US player Kirkland & Ellis had boosted the LPC grant of its London-based rookies by 25% to £10,000. This followed similar moves by global duo Hogan Lovells and Herbert Smith Freehills.
In January, Clifford Chance and Freshfields upped their LPC grants by 43% to £10,000. Not to be outdone, Linklaters, Slaughter and May and Allen & Overy quickly followed suit a month later. All the firms mentioned cover LPC fees, too.
The last major round of maintenance uplifts was way back in 2013, when Linklaters led the way in increasing them from £5,000 to £7,000.