Hogan Lovells enters pay war, boosting NQ solicitors’ salaries to £135,000 in London and £85,000 in Birmingham

More growth

Hogan Lovells has become the latest major law firm to increase the pay of its new associates, lifting rates in London to £135,000.

The pay rise equates to an extra £15,000 or 12%, on previous salaries of £120,000.

The Legal Cheek The Firms Most List shows that Hogan Lovells recruits around 50 trainees each year, with first-year trainees also seeing a pay rise; £50,000 to £56,000 in the first year and £55,000 to £61,000 in the second year.

Newly qualified associates in the firm’s Birmingham office will also see their pay increase, from £75,000 to £85,000. Trainee wages have also risen from £35,000 to £37,500 in the first year and from £38,500 to £41,000 in the second year.

The increases are effective from May 1.

“Base salaries are only one component of solicitors’ remuneration,” a firm spokesman said. “We operate a total compensation matrix that includes a competitive bonus scheme, taking into account both chargeable work and other contributions to the firm and our values.”

The pay rises follow a series of rises in the Magic Circle, with Freshfields, Linklaters, A&O Shearman and Clifford Chance all raising rates to £150,000. Slaughter and May has stood firm so far, keeping the salary of a junior lawyer at £125,000.