NQ Salary Trends - June 2025

Good round up of recent NQ salary increases in this FT article (paywall)

I don't really share in the "this is terrible, in my day NQs were paid much less" etc etc

My view is good on the NQs that are securing these high paying roles, but this is not reflective of the typical newly qualified solicitor. 

There's far too much attention given to the equivalent of premier league salaries, when most firms are playing in the lower divisions and these headlines cause unnecessary ripples and pressures into the smaller firms

It is worth looking at the wider trends at play:

1. This isn't a case of there are too few lawyers for the roles available; although arguably there aren't as many who are willing to commit to the high billable hours that square the circle of the high salaries

   
   

2. It's widely understood that it's US firms pegged to the Cravath scale that are causing UK firms to follow suit. Although (spoiler alert) UK clients do not pay US rates - so unless there's a pivot in the client base it seems to me that trouble is brewing down mill here

   
   

3. I don't think UK firms can bet on a softening US:GBP rate (down ~10% since January) to ease the pressure. There's been little correlation between forex rates and NQ salaries over the past 5 years. Whilst those rates have waxed and waned - pay scales have only waxed

   
   

4. Related to this, it's high value transactional work (notably PE/VC backed corporate acquisitions) in recent years supporting the higher salaries and pulling everyone else up in the name of one-firm / team spirit. Potentially a very large bag firms will be left holding as and when that particular market turns

   
   

5. Overall rate increases for clients have softened in the past couple of years, but pay inflation has not - this is only going to increase pressure on firm profitability. More specifically, clients are increasingly agitated at NQ hourly rates in the £400-500 range, which I'd ballpark is what's required to square these salaries

   
   

6. The bunching of salaries at more senior levels is increasingly acute - all the headlines are on NQs, but seniors are not seeing the same increases and that pressure is only building. Put differently, senior hires are increasingly good value for money for both firms and clients

   
   

7. Where is AI in all of this? Paying ever increasing sums to the juniors that are most at risk of no longer being required is... odd. To me, this says that firms in this part of the market don't really believe the AI hype and/or (if they do believe) they are not adjusting business models appropriately

So good for the NQs securing these role

For as long as it lasts