The Chicago-headquartered firm is adding an extra £30,000 per year to the pockets of its NQ lawyers in the City, lifting salaries from £90,000 to £120,000. While the firm’s NQ remuneration was already well ahead of the Magic Circle, its decision to bulk up pay packets further follows in the footsteps of other US firms with offices in the City, all of whom are looking to match what has now been dubbed the ‘Cravath pay level’. New York-headquartered firm Cravath Swaine & Moore lifted its pay for first-year associates from $120,000 to $180,000 (£124,000) earlier this year, pressuring countless other US heavy hitters to do the same in order to stay competitive with young talent. Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, Latham & Watkins, Simpson Thacher, Kirkland & Ellis, Davis Polk and Akin Gump have all already lifted their London NQ pay up to £124,000 per year.

Source: Legal Cheek