Clifford Chance is to raise pay for newly-qualified lawyers by about 3 per cent, to £63,500, while Linklaters is to raise its rates by 4 per cent to £64,000, reports Bloomberg.
Slaughter and May has also raised newly-qualified salaries around 2 per cent to £63,000.
The two other members of the Magic Circle, Allen & Overy and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, kept salaries unchanged – although Freshfields currently offers the highest pay for newly-qualified lawyers at £65,000.

Confidence

The firms had previously cut or frozen pay for several years following the impact of the financial crisis in 2008.
However, Bloomberg points out that the salaries still lag behind those offered in New York  where newly-qualified lawyers can pull in a whopping $166,000 (£105,000) in their first year.
Nick Shillinglaw, a legal recruiter at London-based Michael Page International, commented: ‘It’s certainly looking up… There’s more confidence in the market now.’