Norton Rose latest firm to boost wages

Norton Rose is hiking its salaries for newly qualified lawyers in line with pay increases at Allen & Overy and Clifford Chance.

This comes two weeks after fellow City firm Ashurst Morris Crisp said that it would raise the salaries of its juniors.

The trend began earlier this year when SJ Berwin raised assistant salaries, as revealed by The Lawyer, (21 February).

Magic circle firms Clifford Chance and Allen & Overy followed suit, raising wages for newly qualifieds to £42,000, which is now the revised rate of pay at Norton Rose.

However, last year Norton Rose's profits stood at £402,000 compared to £605,000 for Clifford Chance and £595,000 for Allen & Overy.

Rob McAfee director res-ponsible for personnel management, says: "We are doing it because we aim to recruit the best lawyers available in the marketplace and retain them."

He says higher US salaries are not the main reason for the decision, adding that the firm had so far lost "very few" juniors to US City rivals.

"It is a factor that we can't ignore, but certainly not the driver for establishing the amount we will pay to get the top talent and keep it."