Shoosmiths raises London NQ lawyer pay by 16% to £87,000
From £58,000 in regions
Shoosmiths has raised newly qualified (NQ) solicitor salaries in London and the regions by 16%.
London NQ rates will rise from £75,000 to £87,000, the firm confirmed today, whilst the salaries of those qualifying in its regional offices will increase from £50,000 to £58,000. The new salaries will take effect from 1 November 2022.
Shoosmiths offers about 30 training contracts each year across nine city centres including London, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester. NQs in the Thames Valley office previously on £55,000 will also receive a 16% pay rise.
Shoosmiths chief executive officer, David Jackson, said in a statement: “In a highly competitive market for talent, we are committed to providing competitive pay within a positive, engaged working environment that emphasises culture, learning and development and quality of work.”
UK-headquartered law firms have faced increased pressure in recent years to up the amount they pay junior lawyers and compete with the six-figure salary offerings at some US law firms in London. Pinsent Masons last month increased NQ rates to £96,000 in London and £61,000 in the regions. Earlier in April, Addleshaw Goddard moved NQ rates to £95,000 in London and up to £62,000 in the regions.
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43 Comments
£83k sucker
Mishcon pls
Mad NQ
£83k to £90k raise, effective 1 July 2022.
Does anyone know a good
Shoosmith? I have a dusty pair of iron oxfords that I need welded.
Oh dear
*welted
Wrong
Actually, it was welded in the context of metal re reference to a smith, you Wally.
Monty
Here before the comments section is invaded by freshers pretending to be K&E NQs with their non-existent Lambos
Anonymous
£87k for a 9-6 job. Not bad, not bad at all.
Anonymous
87k for about 9-6 day, that’s pretty decent.
Rey
November! Literally half a year away.
Jake
This literally makes a mockery of those firms who have still not increased.. Shoosmiths offer a great work life balance and good quality work. Those firms who still claim to offer a value proposition need to take a look in the mirror. namely SQUIRES, CMS, CLYDE AND CO….
25th of Decmber
One of those does not belong with the others…
Clydes have pushed it about as far as they can go with salary I think. Most insurance firms struggle to pay high salaries due to stingy insurance panel bids.
Pretty sure Clydes actually pays the most out of the insurance firms (DWF, Kennedys, DAC)
In the City
Don’t forget Fieldfisher – they’re on fair number of insurer-backed professional negligence cases and they’re up to 85.
RPC did that petty two-tiered NQ package – 80 for people in insurance teams in 85 for the rest.
But then you do have firms with £100k+ nq salaries that are on lot of insurance matters – HSF, Simmons and Mayer Brown are also on a lot of insurance backed professional negligence and D&O matters. Although I think they tend to be on separate high-value matter panels (e.g. £10+m claims, depending on the insurer).
Wnon
Not quite sure where you’re coming from
Clydes and SQB increased very recently.
CMS pays 95k in London which very decent for what it is .
Mate?
SQB is
Intel
No one would ever say that about shoosmiths who actually works at shoosmiths
Mystic BALLS Gazer
This was silver circle territory not long ago at all…
SC firms, will raise to 115k NQ…
Hun
Oooo good whack, it wasn’t that long ago CC was 87k. And if they’re still doing 9-6 (cos obviously that could change) this is a good deal.
US firm associate
The Shoosmiths NQ salary is half my firm’s but fair enough, they probably have a great work life balance. Does anyone know their billable hours target in London?
I find it hilarious how the US firms all backdate their pay increases while the UK firms announce raises 6 months in advance. They’re so desperate to keep pay down. This is the sort of desperate stunt you pull when you’re losing the war against the US firms (I know Shoosmiths aren’t competing with US firms but still having to respond to the pay war)
Anon
It’s not a secret they’re losing the pay war, and it’s not a war they’ll win.
Freedom of Information
Legal Cheek should ask every firm that increases their salary what the 1-3PQE rates are.
If the firm doesn’t respond, Legal Cheek should include a line stating that they asked for this information but [Firm Name] didn’t respond and readers can draw their own conclusions.
If Legal Cheek (and other publications) start doing this, it’ll just be a matter of time before some firms crack and reveal
Lovely stuff
This is a big move by Shoosmiths.
Remember – this is a firm that has traditionally been viewed as a regional hitter amongst the likes of Mills & Reeve, Gateley etc
Shoo Zone
Good whack but could you please get on with measuring my son’s shoe size?
Kirkland NQ
Do they mean £87k a month, or do lawyers really get paid that little in London?
Kirkland slayer!
Well even you do not get paid that much per month or even half of it so please KMA.
I am the lord of the bus said he.
Never thought I’d see the day where Shooeys pay the likes of Mishcon and Gowling…
Anon
Shoosmiths are carving an attractive niche for themselves. 87k with work life balance at 9-5/6? this will temp many strong candidates.
The true pic
Love the comments here that Shoosmiths is 9-6pm. Don’t be fooled, some departments have it easy, but many lawyers work continuous 10-14 hour days!
Anonymous
Shoosmiths now pay more than Mishcons. £83k over here and having to do in excess of 2,000 hours (target is 1,500). Feeling mugged.
Anonymous
Don’t worry about it, you still have the PResTigE of working for the firm that sued the British Government!
Jenson
MDR target is 1500
Regional Pay War Spectator
Big from Shooeys. Regional firms that aren’t completely hamstrung by big insurance offerings (Hill Dicks, Mills & Reeve, Gateley, Browne Jacobson, TLT) should be aiming for this.
Nobody at these firms in the regions is expecting DLA money but everyone who signed up 12-18 months ago on the promise of a decent work life balance in exchange for earning £5-8k off the top of the market has seen a fundamental shift this year to 50% less cash for 10% less work.
Regional Pay War Enjoyer
I think it is regional solicitors who have come out on top from the pay war.
Sure most London UK firms have increased 20k or so which is great.
But a year ago the norm for regional pay was £45k with one or two firms touching £50k. Now regional pay has it £65k (and I believe will hit 70k by the new year)
A 15 – 20k increase is a hell of a lot more significant in regions like Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester etc than in London.
Anonymous
62k in Nottingham at Sheds. Log off at 6pm most days. Probs equivalent to making 85 – 90 in London.
Name
There are 3 or 4 very similar comments about Shoosmiths having 9-6 days. It feels like an orchestrated HR campaign to drive recruitment.
Notshoosmiths HR
My thoughts exactly!
Anonyman
Shoosmiths lawyers do not work nine to six, complete baloney! Salary hikes come at a price…
Anon
They do.
My mate’s dad’s friend’s uncle works there and he said so.
He can also get you banned from Xbox Live.
J
They probably work 9-6 more comparatively compared to most other city firms. Corporate and banking will always have its long hours but can imagine most of their other departments will have 9 – 6 or 7. Heck there are some US firms that have 9-6 hours (albeit its not consistent but still).
Apple Smith
It is always interesting how quiet DWF is at times involving salary increases…
Anon
DWF aren’t just quiet about salary increases, they are silent on salary altogether.
Try and find a source that states the current salaries of DWF that is under 24 months old
DWFer
Would say DWF are very vocal about salary increases (or lack of)…
https://www.legalcheek.com/2022/02/swelling-junior-lawyer-salaries-only-a-sticking-plaster-sir-nigel-knowles-warns/
Doooshane, bring me my Laurrrren bakh
So, 9-6 isn’t a thing. It’s almost always 8:30-6:30, but the odd quieter day you’ll be out before 6. Mind you, that is in the regions only.
In London, it’s 8:30-7 as a minimum.
But across the board it’s longer when WFH and generally most FE in transactional teams are doing 10 hours a day minimum.
Notshoosmiths HR
My thoughts exactly!
Comments are closed.