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 categoryCMS UK growth outpaces firmwide performance as global revenue nears €2.2bnLaw firmsAlex Ryan22 Jul 2026‘There will be winners and losers’ – CMS leaders pin their hopes on tech, scale and client relationshipsLaw firmsKate Peacock22 Jul 2026CMS hires Osborne Clarke AI Hall of Famer amid tech pushLaw firmsAlex Ryan20 Jul 2026Baker McKenzie matches Macfarlanes with £150k NQ salary hike as Pallas and Katten also bump City payLaw firmsTom Cox20 Jul 2026DLA Piper boosts NQ pay to £140k in LondonLaw firmsEliza Winter6 Jul 2026Quinn doubles down on pro bono with expanded bonus credit schemeLaw firmsEliza Winter22 Jun 2026‘A mark of where we want to go’ – Latham sets out growth plan for new City HQLaw firmsWill Lewallen31 Jul 2026HSF Kramer and Jones Day advise as Sainsbury’s offloads Argos for £120mLaw firmsTheresa Hargreaves31 Jul 2026Charles Russell Speechlys grows 10% in year of ‘significant’ investmentLaw firmsWill Lewallen30 Jul 2026