Salary Increases?

[pinnip]

Can we expect to see salary increases for London law firms?
Many firms have had record breaking years for profits, and there have been no rises in trainee salaries for some time.

 

[Dheepa]

The last set of salary increases happened not too long ago and was because firms were trying to bridge the gap with US firm salaries. Because of how recent that was I highly doubt we're going to see another round soon (just my opinion though, I could be wrong)

 

[LegalLily]

Uplifts in trainee salary tend to go up in April and after most firms have announced March retention.
But with NQ I suspect they will stay fairly stable

 

[Jacob Miller]

My gut instinct says that basic salaries for NQ this year will remain stable and will rise again in 2022, but discretionary bonuses will increase a chunk this year as it's easier for the firm to control how much is given out etc. Trainees may see a small rise in April, but it's unlikely to be significant in my opinion.

 

[djqb]

Skimming through Legal Cheek's articles regarding NQ pay, I've noticed that firms (especially UK based ones) tend to increase salaries every 2 years approximately.

For e.g.: there were sizeable increases amongst MC NQ salaries in 2017 and 2019 to keep up with competition from US firms.

Of course the pandemic has impacted this greatly, with firms cutting salaries. Furthermore, this is just an observation of a trend, and US based firms in London are often the trendsetters with regards to pay (and have been for a long time).

For example, now defunct US law firm Bingham McCutchen became the first firm to pay NQs a base salary of £100,000 back in 2010 (https://www.thelawyer.com/issues/15-february-2010/bingham-shocks-market-with-nq-salary-of-100k/), prompting MC firms to up their pay to remain competitive in acquiring the best talent.

In this fashion, US firms will continue to set the benchmark for pay in the London legal market, with UK firms almost always following suit afterwards. But please do keep in mind that there are many factors that go into pay increases, and UK and US based firms have distinct business models, partner compensation structures, and practice area strengths.

 

[Jessica Booker]

I expect firms to hold off this year while they work out the implications of the SQE too.

 

[Numerius Negidius]

Do NQ salary increases usually apply to future and current trainees as well? Or are they only for new TCs?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Increased happen to anyone currently in that situation and those who follow. You don’t apply salary increases only to those who won’t be qualifying for another 4-5 years.