Legal Business

Updated merger watch – CMS completes successful tie-up with Dundas & Wilson

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CMS Cameron McKenna and beleaguered Scottish firm Dundas & Wilson have merged, the firms announced this evening (12 December), creating a firm of 830 partners and 5,600 employees operating in 57 offices in 31 countries across the world with revenues of around €900m.

The tie-up – led for CMS by managing partner Duncan Weston, senior partner elect Penelope Warne and energy partner Stephen Millar, and for Dundas by chairman Lawrence Ward and managing partners Caryn Penley and Allan Wernham – will give the CMS group additional strength in the UK, particularly in Scotland, where for many years Dundas was considered to have the premier corporate practice.

In a prepared statement this evening the firms, which sought the view of a number of joint clients before deciding to progress to a vote, pointed to their ‘leading and complementary energy and financial institutions practices’, adding ‘together the firm will have an even stronger offering in the two sectors across London, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Millar said: ‘There are strong and compelling client synergies. Clients want law firms that can combine depth, breadth, quality and value simultaneously. CMS and Dundas & Wilson together does just that. We have been very pleased by the response from clients.’

Scotland is a key market for CMS, which established an energy-focussed office in Aberdeen 20 years ago and an Edinburgh office 15 years ago. The top 10 LB100 firm represents something of a rescue package for Dundas, which has been one of the worst performers in the LB100 in recent years. The firm revealed a successive double-digit drop in turnover for 2012/13, with revenue at the firm down by 11% to £48.7m from £54.5m, while profit was down 21% to £12.8m from £16.2m the previous year.

Profits per equity partner have also fallen significantly, down to £164,000 from £210,000 – a fall of 22%.

These results followed one of the poorest performances in the LB100 in 2012, with turnover dropping 12% from £62m at the end of 2011/12 and falling 27% from 2008 to the end of the 2012 financial year. Taking into account the most recent results, Dundas has seen a 35% drop in the last five years, down from its 2008 high when turnover was £74.8m.

This summer Dundas cancelled its vacation scheme for 24 students, due to spend two weeks at the firm’s troubled London office, which the firm blamed on its ‘strategic business objectives’, while eight out of thirteen trainees due to start their London training contract this September have been deferred until 2014.

It has also been dogged by partner departures, particularly from its troubled London office, including private equity duo Simon Sale and Nadim Meer, who left for Mishcon de Reya in April.

Dundas’ recent run of poor form reflects the increasingly tough Scottish market, where only a few independents appear to be thriving. This pressure was a contributory factor in the decision by Dundas’ arch rival McGrigors opting to tie-up with Pinsent Masons a year ago.

However, today the prepared joint statement said: ‘[Dundas] has Scotland’s greatest number of band 1 rankings in the Legal 500 and has featured consistently in the Financial Times’ Innovative Lawyers awards.’

Weston added: ‘Dundas & Wilson is the most prestigious law firm in Scotland and we are delighted that they are joining CMS. with Dundas & Wilson, we believe we can offer many of our clients, particularly in the energy and financial institution sectors, a stronger and better service.’

caroline.hill@legalbusiness.co.uk

For more commentary on the Scottish legal market see Setting the heather on fire

Legal Business

H1 2013/14: Nabarro points to pick up in corporate and real estate amid flat half year results

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Nabarro has posted flat half year (H1) revenues for the 2013/14 year, with figures rising by a marginal 0.3% from £52.3m to £52.5m, the firm announced yesterday (4 December).

Speaking to Legal Business, senior partner Graham Stedman (pictured) attributed the static results to a ‘quiet August and September’ but noted the firm has experienced a ‘pickup in real estate and corporate.’

He added: ‘As you come out of recession, although the market is still challenging, you would expect the non-contentious parts of the firm to pick up and that’s what we’re seeing now.

‘We’re very pleased with the direction we’re going in, and we’ve got a clear strategy. We’re very excited about the Dubai office so a key focus will be investment in that. We’ve still got a strong cash position and no overdraft.’

In a pre-prepared statement, Stedman added: ‘We have had a solid first half of the financial year and traditionally have a stronger second half. Investment and profitability will be watch words for the next six months.’

In mid-November the firm, ranked 30th in the Legal Business 100, announced it is to launch an office in Dubai early next year – after obtaining a licence from the Dubai government – in what will become its third international office. The firm posted a modest 3% revenue growth for the 2012/13 financial year to £116.3m, alongside a 29% rise in profit per equity partner to £427,000.

Nabarro’s H1 results are modest in comparison with a swathe of positive reports from LB100 firms, including Olswang, which saw revenue up by 15% to £57.6m and Osborne Clarke, up by 12% to €71.6m.

Elsewhere, a trio of firms announced their half year results on Tuesday (3 December), including Taylor Wessing, which turned out a double digit increase in revenue, unveiling a 10% increase in its UK turnover. Bird & Bird also attributed a 5% increase in its half-year revenues to the strengthening of its international offering, and newly-merged Ashurst reported a 5.8% increase in turnover during the first half of 2013/14 to £298m, noting the rise in improved economic conditions and an uptick in transactional work.

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Leadership: Dick Tyler ‘ready for a change’ as CMS elects Penelope Warne as senior partner

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CMS Cameron McKenna has elected its first-ever female senior partner, as UK managing director and head of energy Penelope Warne takes over the role from longstanding management figure and corporate finance partner Dick Tyler, who has said he is ‘ready for a change’.

Warne (pictured), who joined the firm in 1993 and set up the firm’s offices in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Rio de Janeiro and Dubai, will officially take up the post in May 2014 for a four-year term.

Warne advises clients in the oil and gas industry in the North Sea, the US, Norway, Brazil, EMEA and Russia. On her appointment, Warne said: ‘It is a privilege to be elected as senior partner. My priorities are to ensure that our clients get an exceptional service and that our partners and staff thrive in a supportive and dynamic culture.’

Outgoing Tyler has served in the senior partner role since 2011, having been managing partner at the firm between 2000-2008 and executive partner of CMS Legal Services EEIG in Frankfurt between 2008-11.

Tyler said: ‘It’s been an honour to be in leadership roles for as long as 14 years. I am very pleased with what we’ve achieved. The firm and I are both ready for a change now.’ Tyler confirmed to Legal Business that he plans to return to fee-earning when he stands down in May.

Warne’s election follows shortly in the wake of CMS partner Fiona Woolf’s appointment as Lord Mayor, and managing partner Duncan Weston added: ‘This year we’re celebrating two high flying female careers – our partner Fiona Woolf as Lord Mayor and now Penelope as our next senior partner.’

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Nabarro to launch Middle East ‘hub’ in Dubai

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Nabarro is to open an office in Dubai early next year following the Dubai government’s granting of a licence to the firm, in what will become its third international office.

Announced today (21 November), the new office will be led by construction and engineering head Terry Fleet, a former in-house lawyer at Costain, Babcock International and Trafalgar House (Cementation International). Further team members at partner and associate level will be added around the time of the launch.

The Legal Business 100 firm, which posted a 3% revenue increase for the 2012/13 year to £116.3m alongside a 29% rise in profit per equity partner to £427,000, said the office will focus on construction and engineering, development, and dispute resolution and infrastructure; areas of ‘continued and renewed economic activity in the region and traditional practice strengths for the firm.’

The firm has signalled its intentions to enhance its international offering for some time. Following the opening of a Brussels base followed by an office in Singapore in 2010, the firm appointed Patricia Godfrey as head of international in April, marking its ‘ambition to grow [its] international business and the work it wins from international clients.’

‘Dubai makes sense for us – we’re primarily going out there to support our existing clients and contracts – it’s good to have a good economic reason to go there, and the profile we’re going to have plays to our strengths,’ said senior partner Graham Steadman. ‘You hear a lot about firms with overseas offices that may be a drain on resources. We want to make sure there’s a good business reason to go there. We’re not about sticking pins in maps. So this will hopefully be financially viable and sustainable.’

According to the firm, the UAE region has represented the third biggest contributor to Nabarro’s international revenue in recent years, the firm stated, having been appointed to two Qatari Diar panels as well as recently advising Abu Dhabi Investment Council and London & Stamford on the acquisition of a 50% interest in the £1.26bn Meadowhall Shopping Centre. The firm’s disputes team also acted on behalf of Etihad Airways in 2010, during a high profile case at the UK Court of Appeal against a judgment related to the Spyker Formula 1 Team.

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

H1 2013/14: Olswang sees turnover jump by 15%

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Olswang has joined the early ranks of top 50 firms to reveal their half year (H1) 2013/14 results, with turnover up 15% on the same period last year, bringing in revenues of £57.6m compared with £50.03m last November.

In a statement, the top 35 firm’s chief executive, David Stewart (pictured), who in April was elected for a further three-year term, commented: ‘This is a good performance in what is still a challenging market. We’ve seen strong performances from our German, Belgian, Asian and French teams, combined with a much better London first half. We are now focused on delivering an equally strong second half year to continue our progress towards our strategic goal of becoming a leading international firm focused on the TMT and real estate sectors.’

In the past six months, 367-lawyer Olswang has strengthened its international offering with four new partners in Spain, France and Germany, while appointing six partners across its London practices, including City tax partner Andrew Quale who joined in June from Eversheds.

The technology and media-centric firm has advised on a number of high profile TMT deals over the last few months, including standing alongside Addleshaw Goddard and Linklaters advising on the joint venture between Sainsbury’s and Vodafone to a create a new mobile phone network, ‘Mobile at Sainsbury’s’.

Other deals include advising IMG Worldwide, the global sports, fashion, and media company, on its partnership with Livestream, a market leader in live video streaming for online distribution, and long-standing client ITV on two acquisitions.

Olswang’s results come as the early picture for H1 is so far positive, with Gateley and Trowers & Hamlins last week declaring a H1 revenue growth of 4%, while Weightmans reported a 7% uplift and Clyde & Co set a high bar for the top 20 with a turnover increase of 16.5% on figures this time last year.

francesca.fanshawe@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Global ambassador: CMS partner Fiona Woolf to represent the City as Lord Mayor

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The City legal profession collectively regards itself as a global ambassador for UK enterprise but CMS Cameron McKenna energy partner Fiona Woolf has been officially awarded the representative role of the Lord Mayor of the City of London, becoming only the second female holder of the post in its 800-year history.

Woolf will be the City’s 686th Lord Mayor – to be distinguished from the wider Mayor of London role – and will take on the role of global ambassador for UK-based financial and business services from Friday 8 November.

Woolf has been at CMS for 35 years, having become the first female partner at legacy firm McKenna & Co in 1981. Before joining the firm in 1978, she worked as an assistant at Clifford Chance, having qualified as a solicitor in 1973.

At CMS, Woolf led the legal team that delivered the restructuring and privatisation of the National Grid. She has worked in over 40 countries on regulation, infrastructure, projects and market implementation, particularly in the electricity sector. Most recently, she worked with the World Bank on regional transmission line projects to enable post-conflict countries, such as Liberia and Sierra Leone, to import electricity.

Woolf was a member of the UK’s Competition Commission until this year and was previously president of the Law Society of England and Wales from 2006 until 2007. She is also a non-executive director of Affinity Water and a senior adviser to London Economics International. Woolf said of her appointment: ‘The City makes an important contribution in exporting global expertise and attracting internationally mobile business to the UK by creating mutually beneficial relationships across the world. I have worked on energy and infrastructure reforms and projects that have done just that by delivering tangible benefits to local communities and bilateral trade.

‘As a truly global city, London is uniquely placed to help deliver the infrastructure and financing needed to rise to the challenge of sustainable.’

As part of her new role, Woolf will typically lead overseas City business delegations for three months a year and meet politicians and business leaders who visit the City.

She takes over the role from the UK head of Sweden’s Skandinaviska Enskilda Bank. Her appointment comes 20 years after the first female Lord Mayor, Mary Donaldson, a nurse and the first female alderman, took over the post in 1983.

jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Real estate round up: Hogan Lovells, BLP and Nabarro show credentials while Mishcons makes key hire

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Unsurprisingly, what little major real estate work that is around has found its way to the usual trio of law firms – Berwin Leighton Paisner, Hogan Lovells and Nabarro. And while the usual suspects continued to do what they do best, 2012 Legal Business real estate team of the year, Mishcon de Reya, has strengthened its team with a key lateral hire.

Hogan Lovells is representing fellow international firm CMS Cameron McKenna over plans to move its entire London operation to the newly developed Cannon Place site above Cannon Street station, where it has agreed to take a 25-year lease, when it vacates its existing premises at Mitre House in 2015. The scheme is a joint venture between international real estate firm Hines and Network Rail.

The Hogan Lovells team was led by real estate partner Dion Panambalana, alongside infrastructure and project finance partner Gillian Thomas, while Berwin Leighton Paisner’s commercial real estate partner Alan Wight represented the team acting for the landlord.

An enthusiastic Panambalana said: ‘We are delighted to have been selected to act for CMS Cameron McKenna on what is one of the major lettings of 2013. We think the space is great too.’

Elsewhere, Nabarro advised wealth and investment manager Walker Crips on the establishment of its regulated short-term lending fund launched last week.

As the first regulated bridging finance investment fund in the UK, the initiative is designed to generate a target annual income of 8.4% by providing credit to short-term lending companies specialising in residential property, essentially giving a predictable and sustainable income to investors and much needed capital to property developers, said James Allen, manager of the fund at Walker Crips.

Nabarro’s head of alternative investment funds Andrew Wylie said: ‘We have worked hard with Walker Crips to create a unique fund in the regulated market. As well as being regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, the fund is also a Tax Elected Fund with a structure that satisfies the rules set out by HM Revenue & Customs for this type of product.’

‘Whilst being tailored to bridging finance in this case, we believe the structure we have created could be applied successfully in other lending markets.’

Meanwhile, Mishcon de Reya has hired Olswang’s head of construction Nick Lane as a real estate partner. Lane will join on 2 September and will sit within the firm’s property litigation group as a contentious construction specialist.

His appointment is part of Mishcons growth strategy in disputes, or as Kevin Gold told Legal Business in May, a growth strategy in which it aspires to become ‘one of the leading litigation firm in London.’

Mishcon, with growth rates making it the envy of its peers of late, currently has a three-year strategy for 2013-16 in which has a rather conservative revenue target of £100m by 2016. Its turnover is currently £88.4m.

Speaking of Lane’s appointment, head of real estate Nick Doffman said: ‘Contentious work accounts for more than half of the firm’s business and has become an area of strength for our real estate department.’

‘Our property litigation team has performed beyond expectations during the downturn, and Nick will be instrumental in helping us to grow our existing contentious construction capability.’

Sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Financial results 2013: Dundas & Wilson fails to halt the slide as profits fall 21%

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It was once Scotland’s most revered firm but Dundas & Wilson continues to experience misery heaped upon misery, rounding off a second  annus horribilis by announcing a successive double-digit drop in turnover today (19 July).

Turnover was down 11% at the end 2012/13 to £48.7m from £54.5m, with profit down 21% to £12.8m from £16.2m the previous year. Profits per equity partner have also fallen significantly, down to £164,000 from £210,000 – a fall of 22%.

A statement from co-managing partners Caryn Penley and Allan Wernham said: ‘The firm’s financial performance last year was bound to be impacted by the tough decisions we have taken to reshape our business and to build a platform for sustainable growth going forward.

‘The firm has already seen a strong start to it’s new financial year with results exceeding budgets in May and June. Our activity levels are strong and – combined with no external bank borrowing – we have a strong platform to build our business further in the next 12 months.’

This follows one of the poorest performances in the LB100 in 2012, with turnover dropping 12% from £62m at the end of 2011/12, falling 27% from 2008 to the end of the 2012 financial year. Taking into account the most recent results, Dundas has seen a 35% drop in the last five years, down from its 2008 high when turnover was £74.8m.

Eighteen months ago the firm was plagued by claims of strategic dissent following the collapse of merger talks with Bircham Dyson Bell at the end of 2011. Former managing partner Donald Shaw unexpectedly announced in March 2012 that he was stepping down from his post midway through his second term to return to client work. The reasons for this were unclear but suggestions from former partners were that partners were unhappy with his management.

Restructuring partner Penley and real estate partner Wernham were appointed to take over the firm’s management responsibilities on an interim basis and were elected to share the managing partner role in June 2012.

But the duo have been unable to arrest a slide in revenues and partner departures have been rife, with the most recent exits being private equity duo Simon Sale and Nadim Meer, who left for Mishcon de Reya in April. Other notable resignations include long-serving corporate partner Michael Polson in November last year, who has set up Ashurst’s fledgling Scottish operation; former Stephenson Harwood CEO John Pike, who left Dundas after less than a year to join Osborne Clarke, and Scots lawyers also point to the departure in February 2013 of well-regarded head of insolvency and restructuring Claire Massie for Pinsent Masons as a significant loss for the firm.

The number of departures meant that the firm had a bumper year of partner promotions, making up ten associates, a significant increase from the four promotions made in 2012. The firm also hired six partners in Edinburgh from Semple Fraser, which called in the administrators in March.

However, the financial strain experienced by Dundas means training contracts and vacation schemes have also taken a hit with 24 students due to spend two weeks at the firm’s London office this month told not to attend, which the firm blamed on its ‘strategic business objectives’, while eight out of thirteen trainees due to start their London training contract this September have been deferred until 2014.

In May, Dundas’ 11 London trainees due to qualify in 2013 were told just three positions would be available.

Dundas’ ill fortune reflects the increasingly tough Scottish market, which has been hit particularly hard over the last five years. The leading Scots firms have suffered from the diminishing status of Edinburgh as a financial centre since 2008, with the dramatic humbling of national champions like The Royal Bank of Scotland and Halifax Bank of Scotland and a move towards London in a bid to win more national transactional work has largely been a failed experiment. This pressure was a contributory factor in the decision by Dundas’ arch rival McGrigors opting to tie-up with Pinsent Masons a year ago.

Francesca.fanshawe@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Deal Watch: Slaughters, Dentons, Taylor Wessing and Nabarro act on high profile European deals

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Europe and particularly the UK has thrown up a number of high profile mandates from the nationally significant restructuring of UK Coal through to the solid £500m private equity buyout of Chesapeake by the Carlyle Group.

Nabarro has led for UK Coal on the corporate, insolvency and pension elements of a second restructuring following a devastating fire at the company’s Daw Mill in February. The company accounts for 5% of the UK’s energy needs and as a result of the restructuring over 2,000 jobs and the pensions of 7,000 members have been protected.

Nabarro insolvency and restructuring partner Glen Flannery led alongside corporate partner Ben Hendry and a cross-practice team including pensions partner Ian Greenstreet.

Flannery said: ‘UK Coal has been one of Nabarro’s longest standing clients and to secure the future of its viable mining operations is a positive achievement for everyone involved.’

Elsewhere, Telefonica UK instructed Global 100 UK firm Simmons & Simmons to lead on what is said to be one of the largest contact centre outsourcings in Europe to date and the largest deal of its kind ever entered into by Telefonica UK.

The £1.2bn, 10-year deal sees 2,700 Telefonica advisers based at four sites in Britain transferred to Capita’s management from July 1. The deal involved related real estate, employment, pensions, finance and tax issues.

Alexander Brown, an ICT partner at Simmons who led the deal, told Legal Business: ‘It was a big deal. I would think £500m is a big outsourcing deal so £1.2bn is huge, certainly the biggest Telefonica has ever done.’

Simmons is a longstanding adviser to Telefonica UK and acted on the sale of Manx Telecom in 2011 and a finance and accounting outsourcing to Genpact in 2012.

The deal was led at Telefonica by head of operations (legal and regulatory) Dean Savage, who told Legal Business: ‘[The deal] will create a workforce of 2700. It’s a massive outsourcing deal in terms of people and packs. For us, it’s going to give massive savings.

‘We’ve worked with [Simmons] in the past on M&A work including when we sold Mancks. I find them very good to work with and what I like about them is that they’re not ivory tower. They roll their sleeves up and relate to the clients. They just become part of the O2 team culturally.’

Another UK multi-million pound deal saw Dentons advise UK insurance giant Aviva and its co-investors on the sale of remaining assets at PaddingtonCentral to British Land in a deal worth £470m.

The deal included circa 500,000 square feet of offices and retail/leisure space, a 206 bedroom hotel and two development sites with consent for further 335,000 square feet of offices.

Led by Dentons real estate partner Nichola West and corporate partner Martin Kitchen, the firm’s involvement in the PaddingtonCentral project dates back to 2000, when it acted for Aviva Investors and The Equitable Life on the original acquisition of the development site and the appointment of the original developer.

Since then, the work involved representing the joint venture in negotiating the development documents as well as disposal of the investments.

West said: ‘This sale represents a successful conclusion to Dentons’ 13-year involvement in this award winning scheme. The strength and breadth of our real estate team ensured we were able to guide Aviva through every phase of the project, culminating in this significant sale.’

And while the European private equity market remains unpredictable, one of the largest recent deals has seen Latham & Watkins’ London corporate partner David Walker advise Washington-based private equity group the Carlyle Group on its reported £500m acquisition of packaging company Chesapeake from Oaktree Capital Management and Irving Place Capital. The deal is a significant result for Latham and for Walker, who joined in May from Clifford Chance, where he was global head of private equity.

Walker, who advised alongside finance partners Dominic Newcomb in London and Washington, DC-based Jeffrey Chenard, said: ‘The European PE market has remained choppy in the first half of the year but deals are still getting done. For high quality businesses, the landscape continues to be very competitive.’

Nottingham-headquartered Chesapeake – which produces packaging for Glenfiddich whiskey and Bombay Sapphire Gin – was advised by Slaughter and May led by corporate and commercial partner Jeff Twentyman and Taylor Wessing led by head of private equity Nick Hazell.

Mike Cheetham, chief executive officer of Chesapeake said Carlyle’s ‘backing will support our aspirations to build upon our strong investments over the past three years [and] allow us to respond effectively to new business opportunities as we look to further align our business with our customers’ global requirements.’

Hazell, added: ‘We were delighted to help Mike Cheetham and his team on this. They have built a great reputation in their sector and with Carlyle’s backing can further develop international opportunities. The deal also shows that there is considerable appetite within the market for high quality assets managed by a strong and effective team.’

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

david.stevenson@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Nabarro points to bonus and high performance uplift as it freezes junior lawyers pay

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Nabarro has defended its decision to freeze the salaries of its trainees, newly-qualified (NQ) lawyers and those with one to two years post-qualification experience (PQE), promising that those who shine at any level will receive a 5% increase on their salary and benefit from the firm’s generous bonus scheme.

The top 30 City firm on Friday (21 June) increased median pay bands for associates with over three years PQE. Associates with three to four years PQE have seen their salaries increase by 2% from £74,500 to £76,000, while four to five year PQE lawyers will receive a raise of 3% from £77,750 to £80,000. However, first seat trainees will continue to be paid £37,000 and NQs £59,000, while one and two year PQE lawyers will remain on £64,500 and £70,000 respectively.

While this is the second year that trainee and NQ pay has been frozen a spokesman for the firm said: ‘Our focus this year, as last, is on rewarding high performing associates at any experience level with a salary which can be 5% or more above the median.’ In addition, we have hours and billings based bonus schemes in place which reward high performers with a bonus representing up to 20% of their salaries. We also have a sales bonus scheme for associates who bring in new business to the firm.’

Slaughter and May became the first major City law firm to announce a review of its associate paybands this year, with trainee salaries increasing by £1,000 to £39,000 in year one and £44,000 in year two and NQ pay up from £61,500 to £63,000.

Linklaters was the second Magic Circle firm to follow, raising newly-qualified pay from £61,500 to £64,000 while year one PQEs received a modest raise of £500.

The associates of rival Allen & Overy have ranked on the face of it as the lowest paid of its rivals so far, with salaries remaining at last year’s levels, although much like Nabarro, the firm has pointed to its generous bonus scheme  that it says keeps it competitive.

Nabarro salaries:

Salary (1st seat trainee): £37,000 held

Salary (NQ): £59,000 held

Salary (1PQE): £64,500 held

Salary (2PQE): £70,000 held

Salary (3-4PQE+): £74,500 to £76,000 up 2%

Salary (4-5PQE+):£77,750 to £80,000 up 3%

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk