Reed Smith is set to raise its salaries for NQs in London and EMEA to £107,500, The Lawyer can reveal, an almost 20 per cent increase.
The rate was previously £90,000, a figure first reached by Reed Smith in 2019. The £107,500 base will be available to NQ lawyers who reach a target of 1,700 hours a year of billable work.
However, this can go up even further if the lawyers bill beyond 1,750 hours, stretching to £132,500 if they complete 2,000 hours or more.
If NQs fall short of their 1,700 target hours, they will net a salary of £100,000, still an increase of 11 per cent compared to last year.
The new salaries come alongside the usual non-discretionary bonus programme, subject to target hours, as well as a discretionary bonus.
Reed Smith operates a billable hours crediting policy, which also considers up to 140 hours of traditionally non-billable work, ranging from pro bono to innovation and development and social initiatives.
The same increase is true for the rest of the firm’s EMEA offices.
Tamara Box, Reed Smith’s EME managing partner, said of the change: “We are pleased to confirm the significant increase to NQs’ salaries in London. It is a reflection of our strong desire to retain and attract the very best legal talent in a hugely competitive market.
“The new salary level is an investment in our lawyers and is consistent with several of the firm’s key objectives, including driving performance and teamwork, delivering impactful results for our clients, and rewarding excellence.”
Other firms have been upping their NQ salaries to new levels. These include White & Case which will now pay its NQs £140,000 plus bonus, while Ropes & Gray has exceeded this with a total of £147,000.
The UK firms are paying less, with Reed Smith’s standard base rate similar to that of Linklaters, which is paying £107,500, and Norton Rose Fulbright. The latter has a base rate of £95,000 but that will rise if associates hit a run-rate of 1,800 hours.
