HSF Kramer raises NQ salaries to £145k - just short of Magic Circle benchmark

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer has hiked pay for its newly qualified (NQ) solicitors in London to £145,000 in the latest escalation of the City's junior talent salary battle.

The £10,000 increase, effective from 1 July, puts the firm ahead of Ashurst, Hogan Lovells and Macfarlanes and just shy of the £150,000 offered by all five members of the Magic Circle.

Bigger picture

The move comes on the heels of Ashurst’s £15,000 pay bump in June, which briefly put it ahead of HSF Kramer in the NQ salary tables. It also comes just a month after the firm’s merger with Kramer Levin went live, creating a global top 20 player.

While Slaughters told the Financial Times in May it had no plans to raise junior pay, the pay hike will put the UK’s five most prestigious firms under increased pressure to respond.

See our City law firm salary table for where things stand.

What they said

In a statement, London managing partner Jeremy Walden said: "We invest in our people at every stage of their careers through a balanced and competitive reward structure.

"As one of the leading global law firms in today's fast-moving market, this is important for us to be able to strengthen the experience we deliver to our clients, to maintain our firm's culture and to ensure the firm's continued success and growth".