Boosts of 12% and 7%
Hogan Lovells has become the latest City law firm to raise the salaries of its newly qualified (NQ) associates.
The hike will take NQ rates in the capital from £107,500 to £120,000, a 12% uplift. The firm has also increased salaries by 7% for juniors in Birmingham, from £70,000 to £75,000.
The Legal Cheek 2023 Firms Most List shows NQs at HL are now on the same levels of cash as their counterparts at Herbert Smith Freehills and just below the £125,000 offered by four members of the Magic Circle: Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Allen & Overy and Linklaters. However, the latter two only made the jump to £125,000 earlier this month.
The MC’s fifth member, Slaughter and May, recently confirmed that their NQ rate will remain fixed at £115,000 for now.
Hogan Lovells offers around 50 training contracts each year and pays trainees £50,000 in their first year, rising to £55,000 in their second year.
A firm spokesperson said:
“Following our annual salary review in the UK, we have increased salaries for our newly-qualified lawyers. The base salary for newly-qualified lawyers, effective from 1 May 2023, has increased from £107,500 to £120,000 in London. We currently operate a merit-based pay model with broad salary bands for our qualified lawyers to ensure that we are able to take into account an individual’s performance when determining salary within the relevant salary band.”
Another recent NQ raise came from Macfarlanes, which last week increased junior lawyer pay to £115,000, plus individual and firmwide bonuses.