Trainees receive fresh rises too
Big Four player PwC has upped the salaries of its trainees and newly qualified (NQ) solicitors, Legal Cheek can reveal.
The accountancy giant, which takes on around 30 trainees each year, has bumped junior lawyer pay to £72,000 — a healthy rise of 14% from £63,000. Turning to our 2020 Firms Most List, NQs are now on a pay par with their peers at London law firm Mishcon de Reya (£72,000) and a full £1,000 ahead of those at City trio Bird & Bird, Gowling WLG and Osborne Clarke (£71,000).
The firm’s trainees are also cashing in. Those in the first year of their training contract will now receive a salary of £44,000, up from £39,000, while those a year ahead will earn £48,000, up from £44,000. This equates to uplifts of 13% and 9% respectively.
PwC, which boasts a whopping 1,008 offices across 157 countries, notched up As for peer support, tech and work/life in this year’s Trainee and Junior Lawyer Survey. It scored Bs for quality of work, partner approachability, office, canteen and social life.
News of the pay boost comes just weeks after fellow Big Four player Deloitte announced it was making inroads into the legal profession through the launch of a new training contract programme specifically designed for the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE). Teaming up with The University of Law (ULaw), Deloitte is looking to recruit its first ten trainees next September.