Year one rookies receive £50,000 — a 9% boost
The London office of US law firm Ropes & Gray has upped trainee lawyer pay by as much as 10%.
The Boston headquartered outfit, which offers around seven training contracts each year, confirmed first-year trainees will now start on a salary of £50,000 plus bonus, up 9% from £46,000, while those in year two will receive £55,000 plus bonus, up 10% from £50,000.
The 2020 Legal Cheek Firms Most List shows that the uplifts put the firm’s year two rookies on a pay par with their peers at a host of US outfits including Debevoise & Plimpton, Kirkland & Ellis, Milbank, Sidley Austin and Skadden.
Rohan Massey, London training principal and partner at Ropes & Gray, said:
“Ropes & Gray provides a perfect platform for talented, ambitious trainee lawyers focused on international careers and our trainee programme, which is complemented by a highly competitive salary and benefits package, provides our talented trainees with an opportunity to work on complex and international matters from the get go.”
He continued: “Our trainees also join a firm that is committed to supporting the development of its lawyers throughout their careers and has a strong track record of promoting its best lawyers.”
Earlier this year the firm upped the salaries of its newly qualified (NQ) lawyers by 4% to £120,000. This is the same levels of cash as their opposite numbers at Cleary Gottlieb, Davis Polk, Gibson Dunn and Shearman & Sterling.
Turning to life at the firm, Ropes & Gray was a solid performer in our Trainee and Junior Lawyer Survey 2019–20, scoring A*s for quality of work and office, as well as As for training, partner approachability, peer support and perks.
