Law firms Shearman maintains NQ salary gap with Magic Circle as pay rises 6% to £88,000 while trainees get 15% boost Legal Business · 27 May 2015 · 2 min read Pay Salaries A&O Shearman The first US firm to release its London salaries for the new financial year, Shearman & Sterling has maintained the salary gap it holds over Magic Circle rivals, offering newly-qualified lawyers (NQs) £88,000 a year, £5,000 more than in 2014.Your limit of 1 article in 30 days is up. Please login for full access or subscribe. Corporate users - click here for simple access (no password needed). For more information, please contact [email protected] Related ContentMore in this categoryFreshfields concludes redundancies in Manchester, with around 20 paralegals axedLaw firmsKate Peacock24 Apr 2026A&O Shearman promotes 33 new partners, nine in LondonLaw firmsWill Lewallen15 Apr 2026Five law firms win appointments on FCA’s ‘skilled person’ investigations panelLaw firmsTheresa Hargreaves13 Apr 2026‘Setting ourselves up for the future’ – McDermott ups London trainee pay to £70kLaw firmsElisha Juttla1 Nov 2024Slaughter and May matches magic circle peers with NQ pay hike to £150kLaw firmsTom Cox4 Sep 2024‘At the top of UK associate compensation’ – McDermott hikes London NQ pay to $225kLaw firmsElisha Juttla26 Jul 2024‘After Lehman collapsed, salaries still went up’: Magic Circle NQ pay rises as market coolsLaw firmsHolly McKechnie17 May 2023Time for a reality check on salariesLaw firmsNathalie Tidman28 Apr 2022‘US firms have more buying power’ – Allen & Overy tight-lipped as partnership ushers in lockstep reformLaw firmsNathalie Tidman26 Oct 2020