Mystery US firm offers £1m for UK partners

A US firm is offering a staggering £1m minimum salary in order to poach partners from UK practices.

It is believed to be a record salary for a job advertisement.

The huge incentive is the latest inducement by cash-rich US firms to attract City lawyers.

An advertisement placed in The Lawyer is calling for UK partners to jump ship and join the US firm, which has remained anonymous.

"The firm is intensely profitable - the headline figure [£1m] is significantly below the top level of equity and uniquely committed to the development of a substantial full service London office," states the advertisement, which was placed by legal recruitment agency QD Legal on behalf of the US firm.

The firm is seeking UK partners in the core practice areas of anti-trust, competition, banking, finance, commercial litigation, commercial property, corporate finance, corporate recovery, employment, environment, information technology, private capital and tax.

In the past two years, firms in the UK have been forced to increase starting salaries for newly-qualifieds by £10,000 to compete with predatory US firms in London.

Several UK practices - including Simmons & Simmons and Denton Hall - have had partners poached by US rivals in the past two years.

Last January, a mystery US firm was offering a $1m (£620,000) salary in an attempt to attract UK partners.

At the time, it was believed to be the second highest salary to be offered in the UK.