US outfit’s rookies handed extra cash too
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton has upped the salaries of its London-based newly qualified (NQ) lawyers and trainees.
The ‘white shoe’ US firm, a grouping that is broadly analogous to the UK’s magic circle, confirmed salaries for its NQs have risen 11% from £120,000 to £133,000. Rookie pay is also up: first years earning £50,000, a bump of 4% from £48,000, and second years receiving £55,000, a rise of 6% from £52,000.
Legal Cheek’s Firms Most List 2020 shows Cleary’s NQs are among some of the most well-remunerated in the City, pulling in the same levels of cash as their counterparts at fellow US player Skadden (£133,000) and £1,000 ahead of those plying their trade at Milbank (£132,000).
Money aside, the 16-office-outfit secured A ratings for quality of work, peer support and office in this year’s Trainee and Junior Lawyer Survey. Cleary, which dishes out around 20 training contracts annually, posted Bs for training, perks, canteen and social life.