A&O causes dismay over salary survey

Allen & Overy's (A&O) salary hike for associates has understandably sent rival firms into a spin as the market inevitably rushes to keep pace and match the increase. But the rise has had far wider implications than just those for the law firms.

Consider the plight of one poor City recruitment firm, which had painstakingly spent weeks collecting and collating salary information for a comprehensive report on pay scales across the square mile and beyond… only for A&O to announce its pay review just as its finished product hit the printer's presses.

"Stop press" our recruiter friend yelled. The dismay was evident in his voice as he informed The Lawyer that his survey would be pulped. "Do you think the other firms will follow suit?" he asked. "I don't want to have to go through all this again."

Hopefully other City firms will show more courtesy than A&O and check which other salary surveys are imminent before raising their associate salaries.