Global law firm Slaughter and May is to increase pay for its trainee and junior lawyers from January 2018, and will pay its associates bonuses of up to 16% for 2017.
First-year trainees will see their pay increase from £43,000 a year to £44,000 from January 2018, second-year trainees will receive an annual salary of £49,000 instead of £48,000, and newly qualified lawyers will have their pay increased from £78,000 to £80,000. Lawyers with six months of post-qualified experience will see their pay rise to £84,000 a year from £82,000, and those with one year of post-qualified experience, such as solicitors and legal executives, will receive an annual salary of £88,000, compared to £87,000 previously.
The salary increases have been designed to reflect current market trends.
Associates at Slaughter and May will also receive a performance-based bonus, which will be awarded as a lump sum with their December pay. Newly qualified lawyers or those with half a year of post-qualified experience will be awarded a bonus of 9% of their annual pay, lawyers with between one to two years of post-qualified experience will receive bonuses of 12% of annual salary, and lawyers with between two and a half to four years of post-qualified experience will be awarded a 14% bonus. Lawyers with between four and a half and six and a half years of post-qualified experience will receive a bonus of 16% of annual take home pay.
Slaughter and May last increased its employee pay in December 2016 as part of a pay and benefits redesign. This saw associate salary scales increase from 1 January 2017, and staff bonuses of between 9% and 16% being awarded. Trainees, business services staff, professional support lawyers, secretaries, and paralegals received a 3% bonus for 2016.
