DLA Piper has joined a growing list of firms that have increased NQ pay in London, with the firm increasing compensation for its newly qualified lawyers to £140,000.
The figure marks an 8% rise on the £130,000 that DLA previously paid its London NQs. It comes alongside a 2.5% increase for NQs in DLA’s six offices in the UK regions, who will see their salary rise from £82,000 to £84,000.
The firm has also raised trainee solicitor salaries. First-year trainees will see base pay rise from £52,000 to £55,000, while second-year trainees will receive £60,000, up from £57,000.
All pay increases take effect from 1 July.
These new rates sit just below the magic circle firms, which currently each pay their NQs £150,000 per year, and their first and second-year trainees £56,000 and £61,000 respectively.
The move comes as a raft of US firms have bumped associate pay in the last month, with Milbank raising its base salary for class of 2025-26 associates from $225,000 to $235,000 – a move that was soon followed by McDermott Will & Schulte for its associates in the US and London, with Quinn Emanuel hiking pay for its London NQs to £189,000 soon after.
Last week, Macfarlanes became the first major UK-headquartered firm to raise its NQ salary in 2026, hiking NQ pay from £140,000 to £150,000, and bumping first and second-year trainees up to £60,000 and £65,000 respectively.
In April this year, partners at DLA voted to dismantle its long-standing verein structure in a bid to remain competitive. The plan also introduced a new global holding entity and global leadership team that sits above its existing US and International LLPs alongside a newly aligned partner compensation and incentives scheme.
In a March interview, global chair Frank Ryan and global co-CEO Charles Severs told LB that the new compensation system will make it easier to recruit and retain talent as the competition for top lawyers continues apace.
