Vinson & Elkins bumps UK trainee pay to £60-£65k

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By Emily Hinkley on

24

NQ salaries sit at nearly £174k

Vinson & Elkins (V&E) has boosted the salaries of its trainee solicitors in London by as much as 20%, Legal Cheek can reveal.

The increase means year one trainees now earn £60,000, a rise of 20% from £50,000, while those a year ahead will receive £65,000, an 18% uplift from £55,000. Newly qualified associates at the US-headquartered firm currently earn a salary of $215,000 (£173,822).

The Legal Cheek 2023 Firms Most List shows V&E’s trainees are now among the highest paid in the City, alongside other US outfits Davis Polk & Wardwell, Kirkland & Ellis, Morrison Foerster, Sullivan & Cromwell and Weil Gotshal & Manges who all offer the same five-figure sums.

V&E provides six UK training contracts each year, and in our latest Trainee and Junior Lawyer Survey it chalked up an A* for its swanky office on the 24th floor of the Walkie Talkie. It scored As for training, quality of work, peer support and partner approachability.

The 2023 Legal Cheek Firms Most List