Who’s leading the way in junior lawyer pay? 💷 💷
Exclusive research from Legal Cheek has revealed the eye-watering pay packets of junior lawyers at the UK’s top firms, with fresh-faced 20-somethings pocketing up to £180,000 straight out of training.
The past year has seen a flurry of NQ pay rises, with major firms announcing boosts for junior lawyers almost daily between May and August.
Our latest figures reveal that across the 100+ outfits featured on the Firms Most List, the average NQ salary now stands at £118,756 — a rise of nearly 5% compared with last year’s report. The wave of pay rises is driven in large part by the pressure to attract and retain top talent, especially when US firms continue to tempt fledgling lawyers with eye-watering salaries reaching as high as £180,000. In total, 18 US outfits in London now pay their NQs more than £170,000.
Amidst this wave of increases, the Silver Circle has been making a splash. Ashurst’s rise is one of the biggest we’ve seen this year, with NQ pay jumping 11% to £140,000. BCLP, Travers Smith, and the newly-merged Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer have each added £10,000 to last year’s figures, now sitting at £115,000, £130,000, and £145,000 respectively. Rounding off the Silver Circle is Macfarlanes, holding steady at £140,000 after setting the pace back last summer as the first in the quintet to reach that milestone.
The Magic Circle, meanwhile, remains at £150,000, following the pay war sparked in May of last year when Freshfields jumped from £125,000 to £150,000 — a move swiftly matched by its peers. These latest shifts leave the Silver Circle hot on the heels of the Magic Circle, where the gap in pay has historically been far wider.
Scroll beyond the table for more analysis of this year’s pay moves, but first here’s the full rundown of NQ salaries…
You can view all our salary data, including rates for trainees, on our 2026 Legal Cheek Firms Most List.
How much will I earn as a newly qualified solicitor? 💷
*Law firm pays London-based newly qualified lawyers $225,000. GBP figure calculated by Legal Cheek on 1 September 2025.
Not all City firms are following the trend. Some have frozen NQ salaries to tackle “salary compression” or “bunching” — the shrinking gap between junior and senior pay caused by rapid NQ pay hikes across the sector. At least one firm has diverted funds originally earmarked for a junior pay rise into an expanded bonus pool, aiming to ensure lawyers at all levels across the firm are rewarded more commensurately. Others have opted for more subtle uplifts, with some increases as little as 1.1% from last year — well below the UK inflation rate for the 12 months to August 2025, which stood at 3.8%. Of course, some US firms with market-leading salaries have not seen an uplift at all this year, but they remain firmly at the top end of the table.
Other big movers include Mayer Brown, increasing from £135,000 to £150,000 in line with the Magic Circle, and Eversheds Sutherland and Katten, both rising by an additional £10,000 to £110,000 and £125,000 respectively.
You can view all our salary data, including rates for trainees, on our 2026 Legal Cheek Firms Most List.