City law pay war intensifies: Ropes & Gray raises new lawyer salaries to eye-watering £147k
Ropes & Gray has hiked the salaries of newly qualified lawyers in London by 13 per cent, as the bidding war for legal talent intensifies.
Freshly qualified lawyers at the London offices of the US law firm will now take home £147,000 – with their bonus added on top – marking a neat step up from £130,000 previously, according to Legal Cheek, which first reported the news.
The move puts newly qualified lawyers at Ropes & Gray on par, in terms of pay, with their peers at London US law firms Goodwin Procter, Gump and Milbank.
Trainee salaries in the London office at Ropes & Gray were also raised, reportedly up to 15 per cent, with first years now earning £57,500. Once they move into their second year trainees will earn £62,500.
The news comes as competition for legal talent in the capital has pushed up salaries. Yesterday law firm Stephenson Harwood announced it would raised salaries for newly qualified solicitors by 20 per cent to £90,000.
The highest-paying law firm for newly qualified lawyers remains Vinson & Elkins, where trainees enjoy a pay packet of £153,300, according to Legal Cheek which compiles rankings of British law firms based on their pay, hours, targets and other facets.