Shearman ups UK associate pay by 6.4% after record year
If you’re planning a UK OE, it could be worth considering a US firm rather than a member of the magic circle. Shearman & Sterling has boosted associate salary rates in its latest UK lawyer salary review by 6.4%.
Shearman is one of several US firms dishing out more than their magic circle counterparts.
UK junior associates’ salaries at Shearman will now range from GBP83,000 (roughly NZ$162,000) to GBP114,000 (roughly NZ$222,000), which is 18% more than the boosted NQ rate at
Linklaters (GBP70,500). And while Shearman’s three-year PQEs will bring in GBP114,000,
Linklaters’ stand at GBP93,500. (The changes only apply to English-qualified lawyers and those training to be English-qualified in the US firm’s London and Abu Dhabi offices.)
Allen & Overy, meanwhile, has increased minimum salaries for senior associates by 5%, but has not changed its junior pay scale for this financial year. The firm’s senior associates, who are eligible for promotion from 4.5 years’ PQE onwards, will pocket a minimum of £105,000, up from £100,000.
A&O is the second magic circle firm to unveil its associate pay rates for 2014, after Slaughter and May upped salaries for its junior lawyers by between 0.7% and 3.2% last week.
Bingham McCutchen chair to hand over responsibility
The long-standing chairman of global firm Bingham McCutchen LLP is scaling back his leadership role, a move the firm said is “the next step” of its succession plan – but which happens to come directly following a significant drop in revenue.
Jay Zimmerman has led the firm since 1994 and oversaw Bingham’s expansion from mid-size Boston practice to an international firm with 14 offices worldwide. He will hand over daily responsibilities to managing partner Steve Browne, who has held a number of leadership roles at the firm.
Last year the firm’s revenue sank by 12.6% or roughly US$110m.
Fenwick & West open inaugural Shanghai Office
Silicon Valley-based technology and life sciences specialist firm Fenwick & West LLP has opened its first international office in Shanghai, led by partner Eva Wang and staffed by five other US-qualified lawyers.
Wang focuses on US corporate and securities law for Chinese technology companies and for American companies doing business in the region.
