Slaughter and May

has boosted its trainee and newly qualified pay, now offering one of the most generous packages of UK-headquartered firms.

Slaughters’ trainees will now be paid £38,000 for their first seat and £43,000 for their second, a rise of over 5 per cent.

Meanwhile, its newly qualified (NQ) lawyers will now take home £65,000 in base salary. This puts Slaughters in line with magic circle firms Allen & Overy (A&O) and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. Slaughters had to nudge NQ pay by 2.4 per cent to meet its rivals.

In addition, the firm offers a firmwide bonus of 15 per cent. The bonus is not performance-related and the firm has no chargeable hours targets. It is discretionary because it is not obligatory but if the firm awards a bonus, all associates and trainees will receive the full 15 per cent.

Slaughters only upped its base salaries in May although this time last year the firm also increased pay.

The pay rise applies to all lawyers across all PQE bands.