McDermott Matches Davis Polk’s Salary Bump for London Trainees

McDermott Will & Emery is the latest Big Law firm to up its trainee salaries in London as US firms continue to spread the cash around to their young talent in the UK.

McDermott has upped its trainee salaries in London to £65,000 ($91,500) in year one and £70,000 in year two up from £53,000 and £58,300, respectively, according to a firm spokesperson.

“We pride ourselves on being a leading career accelerant for our people globally,” said Aymen Mahmoud, managing partner of McDermott’s London office. “To do that, we want to combine market-leading compensation with culture and the opportunity to truly excel.”

The firm’s move mirrors Davis Polk & Wardwell’s announcement last month that it would increase trainee salaries, making it the new top rate for trainees among Big Law firms in London.

UK trainees are prospective lawyers that work at law firms or in-house departments for roughly two years and after completing their training, they become newly qualified (NQ) solicitors.

“The London legal market is only getting more competitive, and the elite firms are not only looking at how they can attract the best talent at NQ level, by extending their focus towards attracting the best students across the country,” said Dylan Morrison, senior consultant at UK legal recruiter Montresor Legal.

Many top US law firms have been making London a growth priority and have been flexing their platforms and profitability to get top talent. Earlier this year US firms bumped up pay for their NQ lawyers.

Davis Polk and McDermott now lead US firms for trainee salaries with Paul Hastings following in at £60,000 for first years and £68,000 for second year trainees White & Case with £62,000 and £67,000, respectively. Chasing pack are Kirkland & Ellis, Akin Gump, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher and Morrison & Foerster at 60,000 for first years and £65,000 for second years, Morrison said.

These increases place “pressure on many of UK firms with many not yet paying north of £100,000 for NQ level,” he said.

“As with the associate salary increases, we can expect this announcement to ripple across the market with pressure on the other elite US and UK firms to increase remuneration for their own trainee intake,” Morrison said.