The rounds will be on the Freshfields associates this weekend
Freshfields have dropped a HUGE pay rise ahead of the long weekend, putting them in the mixer with their US rivals and considerably ahead of its Magic Circle counterparts who remain at £125k.
Freshfields have always led the charge when it comes to the ‘Magic Circle’ pay war and have come out strong once again. Will the rest of the MC follow suit? History says yes, and that it’s a matter of when not if, but this decision will not come lightly (and certainly not cheaply) for the other MC firms. The most interesting firm to watch out for is going to be A&O Shearman, as they recently confirmed that those qualifying from Shearman will come in on the A&O pay scale – meaning that those who started their TC’s at Shearman expecting to qualify on £145k, will now actually be qualifying on £125k. But perhaps this move from Freshfields will force A&O Shearman’s hand?
Freshfields have long been a ‘feeder firm’ for the US giants – especially on the Corporate and Finance side of things. The question now of course is: has the gap been closed enough? My feeling is (bearing in mind when I was training at FBD the NQ salary was £67.5k) that this salary rise will certainly keep more at Freshfields and have the intended effect – especially when you consider the number that actually lands in your bank account per month post tax…
Now clearly this is only the NQ salary, and as we all know, English firms ‘bunch’ salaries as associates move up the PQE ladder, so what will be key to understand is what things look like for 2nd, 4th, and 6th year associates and how these numbers compare to those HQ’d on Wall St. But regardless of this, I think a large number of Freshfields associates will be extremely happy right now and will be putting a pin in any exit plans for at least a little while now.
Finally, the cynic in me is a huge fan of the timing of this announcement being two days after the A&O Shearman go live date. Coincidence?
