Law firms are reconsidering making pay rises in the wake of Brexit.
One London law firm, which had planned to raise first-year trainee salaries by £1,000 and NQ salaries by £3,000 this summer, confirmed to Lawyer 2B that it was reconsidering its decision, although stressed that nothing had yet been decided.
June and July is when the majority of firms finalise their salary decisions for the coming year; however given the economic uncertainty sparked by Brexit those that have not already announced may reconsider their options.
In the wake of the 2008 credit crunch, the majority of large London law firms froze salaries for their associates, often for several years. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, for example, kept its pay bands static for five years running.
In the last couple of years, however, lawyer salaries had started to rise significantly, with a spate of American firms in London bumping their NQs up to £124,000 following equivalent rises in the United States offices.
