£12k bump
Akin Gump has increased remuneration for its newly qualified (NQ) lawyers in London by 8%, from £147,000 to £159,000.
The Legal Cheek Firms Most List 2022 shows Akin’s NQs are now among the highest paid in the City, with only a few outfits including Fried Frank (£160,000) and Goodwin Procter (£161,500) dishing out more.
The salary increase to £159,000 (or $215,000) is backdated to 1 January 2022, and has been calculated using a conversion rate of £1 = $1.3553. This rate is applicable until March.
Those further up the ladder are cashing in too. Lawyers with one and two years post qualification experience (PQE) are set to earn £166,000 and £184,000, while those with three years PQE will now earn £217,000.
These uplifts comes less than four months after the US outfit boosted trainee pay to £57,500 and £62,500 for first and second years respectively.
The firm offers around six training contracts in its London office each year, and received A* grades for quality of work and perks in our latest Trainee and Junior Lawyer survey.
Elsewhere, it’s rumoured that Skadden has increased NQ rates to £157,000. The firm declined to comment. Trainees at the firm currently earn £50,000 in their first year and £55,000 in their second.
