CMS has raised NQ salaries in London from £110,000 to £120,000, outpacing a number of City rivals.
The raises also include increases for NQs outside of London, and for trainees in Manchester, Sheffield and Liverpool as well as in Scotland.
CMS has increased the salary for its newly qualified (NQ) lawyers in London to £120,000.
The rise of £10,000, an almost 10% increase, brings CMS in line with City rivals Simmons & Simmons and Travers Smith and moves the firm well ahead of the likes of Eversheds (£100,000) and Pinsent Masons (£97,000), and also DLA Piper (£110,000).
See our City law firm salary table for the full picture.
Regional rises too
The pay rise is part of a wider salary review across CMS’s UK offices.
Salaries have also been raised for the firm’s NQs in Bristol (now £76,500 - but still some way off Simmons' market-topping £96,000 announced in January) as well as in Manchester, Sheffield and Liverpool (£68,000).
NQs in Scotland in CMS’s Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Glasgow offices have also been moved to £68,000.
While trainee pay in London remains unchanged at £50,000 for first-years and £55,000 for second-years, there are trainee increases in some regional offices.
Trainees in Manchester, Sheffield and Liverpool, as well as Scotland, will now get £33,000 in their first year, and £35,000 in their second year.
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