US litigation firm Quinn Emanuel has become the second firm to hike salaries for London newly qualified associates to £180,000
London co-managing partner Alex Gerbi said the firm was ‘committed to continuing to attract the very best new talent’. The increase, from £152,000, is effective from June. US firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher raised its newly qualified (NQ) salaries to £180,000 in February, while magic circle firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer upped NQ salaries to £150,000 earlier this month.
The salary boost backs up research by CoursesOnline, published last week, suggesting a job in the legal sector is the fastest route to a £100,000 salary, compared to jobs in IT, HR, finance, marketing, healthcare, education, construction, recruitment and research.
According to the research, it takes an average of eight years in the legal sector to reach a six-figure salary, while almost half (49%) of entry-level roles offered a salary of at least £40,000.