Trainee solicitor pay reaches £62.5k in the City

Avatar photo

By Thomas Connelly on

Davis Polk tops rookie remuneration table

Trainee solicitor salaries have surpassed the £60,000 mark for the first time ever, Legal Cheek can reveal, thanks to fresh rises in the London office of US outfit Davis Polk & Wardwell.

The New York player now sits at the very top of the Legal Cheek Firms Most List for rookie remuneration after upping year two rates from £60,000 to £62,500.

The 2022 Legal Cheek Firms Most List

The uplift puts Davis Polk’s trainees just ahead of their counterparts at Kirkland & Ellis and Sullivan & Cromwell (both £60,000), and within touching distance of some City firms’ newly qualified (NQ) associates.

The firm has also chucked extra cash at its year one trainees, moving rates from £55,000 to £57,500. Salaries for newly qualified associates currently sit at £147,500.

But you’ll face stiff competition if you’re looking to secure a training contract in the firm’s London office. Our Firms Most List shows Davis Polk provides just four each year.

For all the latest commercial awareness info, and advance notification of Legal Cheek's careers events:

Sign up to the Legal Cheek Hub

Related Stories

Hit billing targets and earn £150k, Orrick tells London NQs

Discretionary bonuses bring pay parity across London and US offices

Oct 4 2021 2:31pm

Get jabbed before coming to the office, US firms tell lawyers

Davis Polk and Ropes & Gray to disable ID cards of unvaccinated employees, reports claim

Aug 6 2021 9:16am

Goodwin boosts London trainee pay by 14% to £57,000

First years receive £52,000 -- up 13%

Sep 30 2021 8:28am