Law firms Trio of international firms hike salaries for newly-qualified lawyers Tom Cox · 16 June 2025 · 1 min read Pay Ashurst CMS DLA Piper Ashurst, CMS and DLA Piper have all hiked pay for newly qualified (NQ) lawyers as the battle for junior talent continues to rage.Ashurst has increased its NQ salary to £140,000, with DLA bumping rates up to £130,000 and CMS to £120,000.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 categoryTrading Places: Paul Hastings picks up Cahill private credit co-head as Wilmer and Perkins Coie see exits in San FranciscoLaw firmsEliza Winter8 Jul 2026DLA Piper boosts NQ pay to £140k in LondonLaw firmsEliza Winter6 Jul 2026Ashurst Perkins Coie referrals hit 500 since merger announcement, co-chairs sayLaw firmsWill Lewallen1 Jul 2026Quinn doubles down on pro bono with expanded bonus credit schemeLaw firmsEliza Winter22 Jun 2026Quinn hikes London associate payLaw firmsEliza Winter5 Jun 2026Latham and Simpson Thacher power up for $2.6bn EQT-Carlyle data centre dealLaw firmsKate Peacock10 Jul 2026Paul Weiss lands mandate as Apollo swoops in with £5.7bn bid for easyJetLaw firmsTheresa Hargreaves10 Jul 2026EQT selects global relationship firms as PE giant targets closer ties with key advisersLaw firmsWill Lewallen10 Jul 2026‘We don’t think about where we came from’ – Clifford Chance’s plan to crack the transatlantic buyout marketLaw firmsEliza Winter9 Jul 2026