Salaries more than double to £145.5k upon qualification
The London office of US law firm Fried Frank has upped trainee lawyer pay by as much as 22%.
The New York-headquartered firm, which offers just three UK training contracts each year, confirmed first year trainees will now receive a salary of £55,000, up 22% from £45,000, while those in their second year will earn £60,000, up 20% from £50,000.
Upon qualification, rookie salaries more than double to £145,500.
The Legal Cheek 2022 Firms Most List shows that the fresh uplift puts Fried Frank’s trainees on the same levels of cash as those at Kirkland & Ellis and Sullivan & Cromwell, and slightly ahead of their opposite numbers at Jones Day (£52,000 and £59,000).
A raft of top firms have increased the salaries of their trainees in recent weeks.
Akin Gump and Ropes & Gray bumped salaries to £57,500 in year one and £62,500 in year two, uplifts of as much as 15%. The rises match those introduced at Cleary Gottlieb and Davis Polk. White & Case, meanwhile, boosted rookie remuneration to £52,000 (up from £50,000) and £57,000 (up from £55,000).
Keen to find out more about life at the firm or a life in law more generally? Why not sign up to the December Legal Cheek UK Virtual Law Fair 2021. It takes place on Thursday 2 December, between 2-5pm, and features 70 law firms, including all the magic circle and leading US firms’ London offices, international firms, and national firms across the UK.
