Newly-qualified lawyers aged just 24 will get starting salary of £107,500 at leading London law firm
- Magic circle law firm Linklaters is offering newly qualified solicitors £107,500
- US law firms based in London are offering the best graduates £153,000
- There is significant demand for the best law graduates among London firms
Magic circle law firm Linklaters is offering newly-trained solicitors – some of whom are aged just 24, contracts worth £107,500 a year.
The salary is a the highest available to newly qualified solicitors in England and is a £7,500 increase on the figure available last year.
New solicitors who secure a place with Anglo Australian law firm Herbert Smith Freehills, are being offered contracts worth £107,000.
Linklaters is offering newly-qualified graduates starting salaries of £107,500 – an increase of £7,500 on last year
Other magic circle law firms are offering their graduates around £100,000 – while US-based law firms are paying their graduates in their London offices around £153,000
According to The Times, there is such competition for the best newly qualified solicitors that other members of the magic circle – Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Slaughter and May – all are offering salaries of £100,000.
However, newly qualified solicitors working for the London offices of US-based law firms such as Vinson & Elkins offer starting salaries of £153,000.
The salaries offered to solicitors at the top law firms far outstrip those available to graduates in other disciplines – with those starting a career in investment banking are paid around £40,000. An NHS nurse starting their career earns around £18,500.
Solicitors generally need a law degree then a further year on a legal practice course, followed by a two-year on-the-job training contract.
Those without a law degree need to successfully complete a graduate diploma in law.
Linklaters also offers its trainees subsidised post-graduate education fees, while after embarking on their training contracts, they are paid £50,000-a-year. Rising to £55,000 on year two.
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