A boost of 8%
The London office of US heavyweight Weil Gotshal & Manges has nudged newly qualified (NQ) solicitor pay northwards by 8%.
NQs at the New York-headquartered outfit — which offers around 15 training contracts annually — will see their salaries shoot up from an already rather impressive £120,000 to a mind-blowing £130,000. This means Weil’s junior lawyers have surpassed the levels of cash received by their opposite numbers at fellow US players Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, Davis Polk & Wardwell and Sidley Austin, all who pay £120,000.
Legal Cheek understands trainee pay remains unchanged, with trainees continuing to earn £46,000 in year one, rising to £50,000 in their second year.
Today’s rise comes just months after the global outfit — best known for its private equity practice — boosted NQ pay by 4% from £115,000 to £120,000. On that occasion, the megafirm also bumped its Legal Practice Course (LPC) maintenance grant by 25%. Trainees-to-be at the outfit’s London arm receive £10,000 to tide them over during their studies.