Ropes & Gray has increased its London NQ pay to £170,000 from £165,000.
Trainees will earn more too, with first years set to earn £62,000 and second years to receive £67,000.
Ropes & Gray has boosted its NQ salary from £165,000 to £170,000 before bonuses.
From September, trainee pay will also increase - first years will earn £62,000 instead of £60,000, and second years will be paid £67,000 instead of £65,000.
The bump closes the gap somewhat between Ropes and its fellow US firms. Firms such as Sidley Austin, Kirkland and Paul Hastings all pay more than £170,000 to their newly qualified lawyers, while top payers such as Paul Weiss and Davis Polk pay £180,000 to new associates.
Ropes’ City training contract launched in 2011 and now takes 24 trainees yearly, with the entirety of its most recent qualifiers retained as NQs.
“Our commitment to attracting and retaining the brightest legal talent is reflected in this salary increase,” said London managing partner Rohan Massey.
“We are proud of our training programme and the exceptional work our trainees and newly qualified solicitors deliver for our clients.”
The firm also operates a hybrid bonus model for associates from their first full year. Under the system, London associates and counsel who hit targets receive a salary top-up, bringing their pay and bonus in line with the firm’s US scale.
See our table of the City’s highest paying law firms here.
Join 10,000+ City law professionals who start their day with our newsletter.
The essential read for commercially aware lawyers.
