Shoosmiths addresses pay compression and raises NQ pay in summer salary surge

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Shoosmiths is the latest law firm to implement summer pay rises, increasing its London newly qualified (NQ) solicitor salaries to £105,000. However, the firm also acknowledged the wider impact of NQ salary inflation, noting that it’s “aware of the knock-on effect at other levels” and remains committed to addressing pay bunching and “providing competitive salaries at all levels across the firm”.

The £8,000 hike for London NQs brings the firm’s pay in line with Gowling WLG (UK) LLP, Pinsent Masons LLP and Stephenson Harwood LLP. Meanwhile, Shoosmiths has also increased pay in the regions, with a £4,000 boost in Birmingham, Leeds, Reading and Nottingham, moving pay from £63,000 to £67,000. The firm stated that this change “ensures the firm remains highly competitive in attracting and retaining early-career talent in a fast-moving market”.

Speaking on pay compression, the firm noted: “While base salaries at NQ level have increased in response to that market pressure, our bonus scheme provides meaningful additional earning potential, particularly for more experienced lawyers, who are often best placed to exceed performance thresholds.”

Shoosmiths’ bonus structure combines a base salary with both individual and collective incentives. In June, the firm announced that it’d paid out a 5% firmwide bonus for the financial year just ended, totalling £3.5 million, which was distributed across 1,300 eligible employees. AI also played a big part in bonuses this year, with lawyers encouraged to use copilot to unlock a £1 million bonus pot. In addition to collective bonuses, individual performance-related bonuses are awarded based on chargeable hours, with eligibility beginning at 1,485 hours and increasing up to 1,900 hours. Together, these schemes enable lawyers to earn up to an additional 19% on top of their base pay.

Mishcon de Reya LLP also recently announced pay increases. NQ pay will rise to £100,000 from September, and trainee salaries have increased, as of July, to £50,000 and £55,000 for first and second-year trainees, respectively.

Partner and chief people officer at Mishcon de Reya, Vanessa Dewhurst, said: “Our people are our greatest asset and we have considered extensively how to ensure we best reward all of our people. We do this through a mix of pay, bonuses and a generous range of benefits as well as the opportunity to work with some of the most interesting clients on some of the most complex legal matters.”

Both firms’ pay boosts follow a flurry of NQ salary increases across the summer. According to Legal Cheek, DLA Piper UK LLP’s London NQs have seen the most significant increase of £20,000, bringing total NQ pay to £130,000. Outside of London, CMS’ NQs have seen the biggest pay boosts, with increases of:

• £6,500 in Bristol to £76,500;
• £6,000 in Manchester, Sheffield and Liverpool to £68,000; and
• £8,000 in Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Glasgow to £68,000.

These increases remain slightly below those seen in London, where NQs received a £10,000 uplift.