OPEN THREAD: What are law firms REALLY paying their junior lawyers?

Share your salary below the line

Newly qualified (NQ) solicitor salaries continue to grab headlines, with Legal Cheek’s latest exclusive data revealing that the highest-paying firm now offers its freshly qualified lawyers a whopping £181,000. But what happens to those eye-watering pay packets as associates climb the post-qualification experience (PQE) ladder?

While firms are generally happy to publicise their trainee and NQ salaries, as detailed in Legal Cheek’s Firms Most List, pay further up the associate ranks remains something of a mystery.

And with NQ salaries continuing to climb, are pay rises further up the ranks keeping pace, or is the gap between newly qualified and more experienced lawyers narrowing?

So, continuing what has become something of an annual tradition here at Legal Cheek, we’re calling on our trusty readers to spill the details in the comments section below. We want to know your firm (London or the regions), department, PQE level or class year and salary (base plus bonus for the latest financial year).