Exclusive: Trainee solicitor salaries stay the same
Jones Day has reduced the remuneration of its newly-qualified (NQ) lawyers by £5,000.
Prior to the pay cut, solicitors qualifying in the US firm’s London office received £105,000, according to our Firms Most List. New associates will now earn £100,000.
Trainee solicitor salaries, however, remain unchanged: £52,000 in year one, rising to £59,000 in year two.
Today’s news comes less than 24 hours after we reported that Ropes & Gray will stick with its £130,000 NQ pay package.
Other US firms have decided to hold London NQ pay at their current rates in spite of the economic headwinds brought on by the coronavirus. Last week we reported that Cleary Gottlieb and White & Case will continue to pay their new qualifiers £133,000 and £105,000, respectively.
Jones Day isn’t alone in chipping away at its NQ pay packets. Other City firms — including, most recently, Baker McKenzie, DLA Piper and Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner — have reduced the remuneration of their junior ranks in response to COVID-19. Magic circle firms Clifford Chance, Allen & Overy and Slaughter and May have also trimmed new associate salaries.