Ed. note: Welcome to our daily feature, Quote of the Day.
For a UK law firm to do this in a market, where it’s just harder to make money, that’s a hell of a statement. It’s going to cost them.
They don’t really need to do this. It can only really be for prestige.
— Scott Gibson, director of London-based legal consultancy Edwards Gibson, in comments given to Bloomberg Law, concerning Linklaters’ decision to institute a 20% salary increase for newly qualified lawyers in the UK, driving pay up to £150,000 ($188,000), from £125,000 ($157,000). Freshfields made a similar salary move for NQ lawyers earlier this month. Ria Karnik, a London-based legal recruiter for Major, Lindsey & Africa, said that Linklaters and Freshfields are making “bold move[s],” and that it’s “reasonable to expect the other Magic Circle firms to follow suit.”
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on X/Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.
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