Four New Square ups pupillage award to £60,000

Four New Square has fired the latest shot in the war for talent at the bar after announcing that it would be raising its pupillage award by 11 per cent.

The chambers, which has been ranked 19 in The Lawyer’s Bar Top 30, will now pay those beginning pupillage in the 2010/2011 intake a payment of £50,000 up from £40,000 the previous year.

Those starting their pupillage with the chambers in 2011/12 will take home a whopping £60,000 - matching that of One Essex Court, which was ranked number three in the top 30.

Head of pupillage committee at Four New Square Alex Hall Taylor said: “We recognised that others in our field were raising their awards, and as we compete with the other top commercial sets to secure the best candidates for pupillage we wanted to make sure that we had comparable financial incentives.”

In August One Essex Court shocked the market by announcing that it would boost its pupillage award by 33 per cent from £45,000 to £60,000 for its October 2010 intake making its trainee barristers the highest paid in the capital.

The news comes after Quadrant Chambers announced it would raise its pupillage award by more than a third.

Those beginning pupillage in the 2010-11 intake will receive an annual award of £55,000, up from £40,000.

Elsewhere Wilberforce Chambers has raised its award to £48,000 from £40,000 as of 2011 while Essex Court is upping its pupillage pay from £40,000 to £55,000 with effect for its 2010 intake.

Meanwhile, Nicholas Hill, senior practice director at 3 Verulum Building said his set was considering raising its award post 2010-11 to bring it in line with the market.