PostsNews

Mayer Brown boosts NQ lawyer pay to £120k

Avatar photo

By Emily Hinkley on

40

£12.5k increase

Mayer Brown has increased salaries for its newly qualified (NQ) solicitors in London to £120,000, Legal Cheek can reveal

The firm has upped base rates in the City by a little over 12% from £107,500 to £120,000. The rise took effect on 1 July 2023.

The recent increase puts the MB’s juniors on the same cash levels as their counterparts at Hogan Lovells and Herbert Smith Freehills, the Legal Cheek Firms Most List 2023 shows.

The 2023 Legal Cheek Firms Most List

Mayer Brown trainees in London earn £50,000 in their first year of training, then £55,000 in their second year. The firm offers around 15 training contracts in London each year.

A raft of firms have increased salaries in recent weeks including Bird & Bird, HFW,  Dentons, Taylor Wessing, Travers Smith, CMS, Simmons & Simmons, and Ashurst.

For all the latest commercial awareness info, and advance notification of Legal Cheek's careers events:

Sign up to the Legal Cheek Hub

40 Comments

SM

Embarrassing for Slaughters now

Reply Report comment
(50)(0)

Kel

Slaughter and May have always been a Ben. It’s been like this since

Reply Report comment
(3)(2)

Anonymous

Fairs

Reply Report comment
(1)(0)

Tommy

Plus 139k for Finance 1PQE and 150K for Finance 2 PQE

Reply Report comment
(6)(0)

MB

2pqe is higher. Although might be banded. Different people i’ve spoken to have said more.

Reply Report comment
(3)(2)

C

Here we go, shed up next?

Reply Report comment
(6)(9)

Ss

Can anyone confirm rise of Dentons or AG?

Reply Report comment
(1)(0)

Anon48

Dentons is 95k (reported by LC last week, though they haven’t updated the Most List yet!)

Reply Report comment
(6)(0)

Asdff

Any ES insiders confirm of any potential rises?

Reply Report comment
(2)(2)

J

Will pinset rise?

Reply Report comment
(2)(4)

?

Considering we’re not in the best economic state right now, why do so many city firms keep rising their salaries

Reply Report comment
(2)(3)

Barney the tree

Most of these rises are really just to match inflation (e.g. 3-5%). It’s nice but it’s not on the levels of previous years.

Firms match pay rises with competitors because the lateral market is vibrant and NQ-4PQE lawyers will gladly jumpy ship if there’s a higher salary (which firms are acutely aware of)

Reply Report comment
(26)(0)

Optimistic future trainee

Might seem counterintuitive but hardly any other career in the city (except investment banking) requires the sheer slaving away and sacrifice of self/social life that corporate law does. So it’s only right that compensation reflects that.

Reply Report comment
(30)(1)

coffee

Seriously??

Reply Report comment
(5)(3)

herbies

hsf wya

Reply Report comment
(4)(2)

Herbos

Tbh I think HSF are positioned pretty well, a little less money than FBD/CC et al but also a little less hours/availability expectations in most teams as far as I can see and from what I’ve heard from friends in those other firms. More money would be lovely but that would probably come at the expense of my slightly better work-life balance, so I’m happy with the compromise

Reply Report comment
(21)(1)

Jo

I know people have said this enough times already but the Magic Circle/Silver Circle etc is really dead.

I’m an NQ almost 1PQE now and when I was in uni these law firm titles were everything for students who were applying for vac schemes and TCs. The uni students now aren’t focusing on titles as much

Reply Report comment
(17)(14)

lol

I am 6 years old but I am 7 next week

Reply Report comment
(15)(6)

Anon

Tell that to the top clients, who still choose them in droves. There’s a reason MC lawyers are so busy.

Reply Report comment
(10)(13)

Anon

Because of NQ pay? Why do nqs and trainees think they determine the market of what magic circle is. Its hilarious

Reply Report comment
(18)(0)

Ian mathematics

still better to train at mc as exit opportunities + career prospects are the best.

Reply Report comment
(17)(7)

functional brain

There are several reasons MC > SC:

(1) Pay banding is usually better at MC, with greater bunching in the SC.
(2) Significantly stronger exit-ops.
(3) A better pedigree of clients, who pick you for their hardest matters – even if SC works on the same deals as MC, the MC firm will always be chosen for the more legally complex component.

Also, I don’t know how you’ve so rapidly become disconnected with what uni students want – if you ask someone to pick between HSF and SM, I can tell you what they’re going to do 90% of the time.

Reply Report comment
(10)(15)

Rebel without a clause

To your points:

1) This is generally true from what I know from friends at multiple SC and MC firms, but is firm/team dependent and MC doesn’t always pay more through the PQE bands
2) Hard disagree with “significantly”. This is a generalisation and oversimplification which may sometimes be true but that is again firm and team dependent
3) Just not true in the slightest, do you really believe that MC firms always have smarter/more capable solicitors than SC firms?

There are myriad reasons why someone would accept a TC at one firm over another, an outdated label doesn’t make a firm any better than another.

I turned down a TC at an MC firm for an SC firm, and would have turned down SM for HSF too – they’re very different firms with very different cultures, and SM just doesn’t appeal to me at all.

Reply Report comment
(19)(4)

Sss

She’s is likely to rise next

Reply Report comment
(2)(4)

Dddd

Eversheds to 100k; AG to 97.5k

Reply Report comment
(6)(6)

Dd

Will pinset rise?

Reply Report comment
(0)(7)

Rehabilitated workaholic

K&E associate here. Should I move to Mayer Brown for better work life balance, despite the £100k pay cut?

Reply Report comment
(12)(4)

10000000

Might as well mate, 157k 2y pqe

Reply Report comment
(13)(1)

Asking K&E associate

Is the work life balance that bad or does the salary make up for it?

Reply Report comment
(4)(1)

Rehabilitated workaholic

I am averaging 70 hours of billable work each week. You are so swamped that you have no time to do things outside of work.

Reply Report comment
(4)(0)

A

Pinset to 105k confirmed for next week.

Reply Report comment
(3)(10)

Ddd

Shoosmiths to rise to 90k, finally.

Reply Report comment
(1)(2)

I work at the Shoo shop

I can confirm that this is unverified.

Reply Report comment
(1)(1)

Sss

Knights plc to 87k..

Reply Report comment
(2)(0)

S

Russel Cooke to 91k for NQs (inclusive of bonus)

Reply Report comment
(0)(0)

Please

Can anyone confirm what’s the NQ salary for faegre drinker and Marriott Harrison?

Reply Report comment
(0)(1)

Ro

Can anyone please confirm what the NQ salary is for faegre drinker and Marriott Harrison?? Always a bit dubious what the NQ rate will be when there is no disclosure online

Reply Report comment
(3)(0)

RPC Trainee

I really need to get a new job

Reply Report comment
(8)(0)

D

Fieldfisher to 102k, finally confirmed.

Reply Report comment
(2)(1)

Ss

Clyde to 105k…yeaaa baby

Reply Report comment
(0)(0)

Join the conversation

Related Stories

news

Bird & Bird, HFW and Dentons bump NQ salaries to 95k

More rises

Jul 31 2023 8:50am
56
news

Taylor Wessing ups NQ lawyer salaries to £100k

Rises for rookies too

Jul 12 2023 8:51am
38
news

Travers and Ashurst raise NQ lawyer salaries

£110,000 and £115,000 -- plus rises for some trainees too

Jul 18 2023 8:45am
53