Serious money!
US law firm Quinn Emanuel has increased salaries at its London office, with newly qualified (NQ) associates now earning a record-breaking £189,000.
The firm previously offered NQs £180,000 but has raised this by a further £9,000 — a 5% increase. The UK rises follow Quinn Emanuel’s decision yesterday to lift US associate pay in response to similar increases rolled out by Milbank and McDermott Will & Emery.
The commercial litigation specialist has also raised pay by 5% across all associate levels in London, with those at one and two years’ post-qualification experience now earning £205,000 and £231,000 respectively.
Quinn Emanuel does not currently offer UK training contracts, so today’s salary increase could be seen as a tactic to poach top qualifying talent from rivals.
The firm’s London senior partner Richard East said:
“We maintain our own salary scale in this marketplace and pay people in pounds sterling but our aim is to retain the top litigation talent in London. We have increased our salaries across the board to ensure that we remain at or above the top of the market.”
The Legal Cheek Firms Most List 2026 shows Quinn Emanuel pays newly qualified associates £9,000 more than previous market leaders Davis Polk, Gibson Dunn, Paul Weiss, and Willkie, all of whom currently offer £180,000.
You can view the increases in full below.
| Level | Old Salary | New Salary |
|---|---|---|
| NQ 2024 | £180,000 | £189,000 |
| NQ 2023 | £180,000 | £189,000 |
| 1 PQE | £195,000 | £205,000 |
| 2 PQE | £220,000 | £231,000 |
| 3 PQE | £260,000 | £273,000 |
| 4 PQE | £275,000 | £289,000 |
| 5 PQE | £290,000 | £305,000 |
| 6 PQE | £305,000 | £320,000 |
| 7 PQE and above (off scale) | £315,000–£355,000 | £331,000–£373,000 |
Shame the leftists are going to tax, tax, tax. Be ready for 2027, the year of “those with the broadest shoulders” being on repeat.
If you knew anything about Leftism aside from what you read in the Telegraph you wouldn’t write such an ignorant comment.
Has the left taxed everything? Yes
Has the left ruined the economy and an entire generations options for the future? yes
so what has moving on out said that is wrong?
Capital gains increases proposed by Labour’s left and backed by Burnham. Increases in the top rate of tax too. And then there’s “progressive” social care charge (everyone knows what “progressive” means to Rayner, Haigh, Burnham etc – almost all the costs will fall on high earners). “Reform” of the council tax system so the South East is taxed even more to subsidise the Northerners. Goodness knows what else is to come to fund the benefit bonanzas. But then, what do I know?
lssa
F*** me!
Who has the guts to put down £200k?
PW and Kirkland show who’s the big dog babyyyy!!!
A crucial point is that salaries are not going up when adjusted for inflation, e.g. 170k only two years ago is now worth 180k and 150k in 2020 is now worth over 190k. In other words, what are depicted as “insane” pay increases barely make sure that younger juniors make the same as their elders did in their time (and very often they do not).
Yes, but the rest of the world isn’t increasing any where near the same rates, if at all. So yes, even for this day and age – insane increases.
The sky’s the limit. Pricing power means legal firms can increase fees faster than a rocket. Meanwhile the economy is struggling. Silicon valley says AI can democratise the legal profession and smash costs.
So who’s going to win: The old world or the new world?
Cheddar cheddar dolla bill yall
Wow, so either work as a Managing Partner at DWF or as an associate in BigLaw and earn the same salary!
Bants!
A managing partner salary at DWF is 180k?
This says more about DWF than it does Quinn.
Paying more than partner salaries at many firms. Gulf, disparity, how the 1% live!