Law firms DLA Piper and CMS will increase salaries for their newly qualified lawyers, as well as for first and second-year trainees.
From 1 September, DLA Piper’s London-based newly qualified lawyers will receive £130,000, an 18% year-on-year rise. Additionally, London-based trainee salaries will increase to £52,000 for those in their first year and £57,000 for those in their second year.
Those based in DLA Piper’s offices outside of London will see an increase of 9.3% to £82,000. First-year trainees located outside of London will receive £35,500, while second-year trainees will receive £39,000.
As part of the firm’s development strategy, newly qualified lawyers and trainees will have access to training programmes and opportunities to collaborate and build multidisciplinary commercial skills throughout their careers. They can also access its global platform across multiple partners, teams, and jurisdictions.
Meanwhile, CMS has increased the salaries for its London-based staff, to £50,000 for first-year trainees, £55,000 for second-year trainees and £120,000 for newly qualified lawyers.
In Bristol, its first-year trainee salaries will rise to £43,000, increasing to £45,000 for second-year trainees, and to £76,500 for newly qualified lawyers, a nearly 10% rise.
In Manchester, Sheffield and Liverpool, first-year trainee salaries will rise to £33,000, increasing to £35,000 for second-year trainees, and to £68,000 for newly qualified lawyers, which is a just under 10% uplift.
Additionally, in Scotland, its first-year trainee salaries will increase to £33,000, rising to £35,000 for second-year trainees, and to £68,000 for newly qualified lawyers, a 13% rise.
The rates are effective from this month.
Andrew Dyson, UK country managing partner at DLA Piper, said: “We are making a significant investment into our people in the UK, recognising the importance of the UK legal market as a focus for growth within our international strategy. We are delighted to enhance the rewards to newly qualifying solicitors at a level that reflects the high performance of our firm in the UK.”
