Ropes & Gray offers junior lawyers 20 per cent billable credit for AI effort Legal US law firm Ropes & Gray has expanded its programme to give junior lawyers 20 per cent of their billable hours to experiment with generative AI to its European offices, including in the City. The ‘TrAIlblazers’ programme was floated across the firm’s US offices last year, but it is now being implemented in Europe for [...]
Big name, big pay, even bigger hours: Welcome to City law firms Legal The salaries of junior lawyers is a topic that sparks headlines, adding even bigger sparks to debates over 20-something-year-olds pocketing hefty wage packages. However, considering the hours they work and what is expected of them, the money is earned. US firms, many of which now dominate London, not only compete over lawyer rates but also [...]
Junior lawyers earn £44 an hour for 13-hour days Legal Junior lawyers at leading City law firms are regularly working well beyond standard hours, with many firms reporting their youngest staff routinely putting in over 12-hour days. According to research by Legal Cheek on over 2,000 trainees and junior lawyers, the London offices of top US law firms are leading the table, which is consistent [...]
Has the legal market pulled the brakes on the NQ pay war? September 4, 2025 ‘City lawyers are the new bankers‘. This became a common refrain in the legal market as pay wars ramped up. However, the sentiment within the market suggests that the tide may be changing. Over the past several years, the pay war over newly qualified (NQ) lawyers has been a major talking point in the market, [...]
City law firm Addleshaw Goddard prioritises bonuses over junior pay raises August 28, 2025 City law firm Addleshaw Goddard has pulled out of the junior salary war by freezing pay and relocating those funds to its bonus pot. As reported by trade publication The Lawyer, Addleshaw Goddard has reallocated £1m that would have been spent on higher salaries for newly qualified (NQ) lawyers, into its bonus pot, now worth [...]
Profit of top US law firms in London have dropped below £1bn amid M&A slowdown June 6, 2024 Profits at the top US law firms in London have fallen below £1bn as the downturn in the M&A market is starting to have its effects
Last one standing: UK-US firm A&O Shearman latest to hike its junior lawyer salaries May 31, 2024 One of the largest law firms in the world A&O Shearman has upped its newly-qualifie salary to £150,000 for its London lawyers
Next stop £195,000? Another law firm hikes junior lawyer pay May 29, 2024 Clifford Chance is the latest magic circle firm to raise its newly-qualified salary in a salary war that has no sign of slowing down
US law firm ups starting salaries in London to a whopping £180,000 May 10, 2024 The US firm's decision to hike its pay for newly qualified London lawyers now makes it one of the highest paying firms in the City.
Magic circle law firm Freshfields ups NQ salary to £150,000 May 3, 2024 As the salary war in the legal market battles on, magic circle law firm Freshfields has just increased its NQ lawyers' salaries to £150,000