Global outfit’s trainees will also receive extra cash
DLA Piper has bumped up the pay packets of its London-based newly-qualified (NQ) solicitors and trainees.
Until recently, fresh-faced associates at the global outfit had enjoyed a salary of £70,000. They will now take home £75,000 — a modest pay rise of £5,000 or 7%. Legal Cheek’s Most List shows that DLA’s London lot are now on an earning par with their peers at Hogan Lovells, Norton Rose Fulbright and Travers Smith, and a full £3,000 better off than NQs at Ashurst and Baker & McKenzie (£72,000).
DLA has also confirmed that trainee pay has been upped. Those in the first year of their training contract will now pocket £44,000, up from £42,000, while those a year ahead will earn £49,000, up from £47,000. These salary boosts equate to a rise of 5% and 4% respectively.
Further up the ladder, associates with one-year post qualification experience (PQE) will see their salaries bumped from £76,500 to £82,000 (7%), while associates with two years PQE under their belts will now trouser £95,000, up from £85,000 (12%). According to DLA, the new associate figures are “average earnings” and include “bonus potential”.
The boosts come after the firm took the decision to push back its spring salary reviews until July to assess what other firms were going to do. Commenting on the pay increases — which will be backdated to May — DLA’s managing partner, Sandra Wallace, said:
We consistently recognise the contributions of our people and want to reward them competitively. With that in mind, delaying our associate salary review was the right decision to make; it’s meant that we are now better positioned in the market — both in London and the rest of England.
Trainee pay at DLA’s regional offices remains unchanged at £27,000 for first years and £30,000 for second years. Meanwhile, NQs outside London will receive an extra £1,000, taking their final salaries to £42,000.
The firm, which offers around 75 training contracts annually, scored As in Legal Cheek’s 2016 Trainee and Junior Lawyer Survey for training, quality of work, social life, partner-approachability, peer support and international secondment opportunities.
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