Norton Rose Fulbright, Travers Smith and Ashurst increase trainee and junior lawyer salaries

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By Thomas Connelly on

All three outfits now in £75k-£80k range

A trio of top City outfits have upped the salaries of their trainee and newly qualified (NQ) lawyers.

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) has bumped London NQ pay from £75,000 to £77,000, equating to a modest rise of £2,000 (2%). Trainee remuneration is also up: £45,000 in year one, increasing to £49,000 in year two — uplifts of 2% across the board.

Legal Cheek‘s Most List shows that the pay move puts NRF’s junior lawyers £2,000 ahead of their equals at Dentons, Mayer Brown and Reed Smith (£75,000), and on the same levels of cash as their peers at DLA Piper and Baker McKenzie.

The 2018 Firms Most List

Pay is also up at Travers Smith. NQ salaries now sit at £78,500, a rise of £3,500 or 5%, while trainee pay has been bumped by 3% — £45,000 in year one, rising to £50,500 in year two. The two-office outfit’s NQs are now on a pay par with those over at magic circle player Linklaters, while Travers’ second-year rookies now receive the same as their opposite numbers at Canary Wharf-based giant Clifford Chance.

Ashurst has splashed the cash too. The firm, which takes on around 45 trainees annually, has bumped junior lawyer wedge to £76,000 — a rise of £4,000.

Our Most List shows that Ashurst’s 6% uplift puts its NQs a full £3,000 ahead of Stephenson Harwood‘s new associates and just £1,000 behind NRF’s freshly-minted lawyers. Ashurst also confirmed trainee pay is up. Year one trainees now receive £44,000, up from £42,000 (5%), while those a year head will earn a salary of £48,000 — an extra £2,000 or 4%.

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