Herbert Smith freezes salary bands

Herbert Smith has frozen salary bands for associates, following the trend set Allen & Overy and Linklaters. Pay at the firm is set to stay at £38,000 for first-year trainees, £61,000 for newly qualified solicitors and £68,000, £73,000 and £85,000 for those with one, two and three years’ post-qualification experience respectively. Associates will progress through the pay bands as normal. Pay has been static or slow at Herbert Smith for some time: in 2009 the firm reduced the salary bands and stopped associates from moving from one pay band to the next. And last year the firm made marginal increased the pay for newly qualified solicitors from £60,000 up to £61,000, while keeping associates with one or two years’ PQE at £68,000 and £73,000 respectively. The salary band for three years’ PQE rose by £2,000 up to £85,000.

Herbert Smith freezes salary bands thelawyer.com Mon, May 30, 2011