School-leaver apprentices at top City law firms are earning salaries of up to £55,000, more than 50 per cent higher than the average national salary, research has revealed.
Prospective solicitors who go straight from school to apprenticeships at Norton Rose Fulbright, an Anglo-American practice, are paid £28,000 in their first year, with that figure rising to £53,000 by the end of the six-year scheme.
However, according to research by the Legal Cheek website, the firm paying its apprentices the most in the City is CMS, which offers final-year salaries of £55,000.
Such final-year apprenticeship pay packets far outstrip the average annual wage in Britain, at present at just less than £35,000, and are the latest evidence of skyrocketing pay in the Square Mile’s legal profession.
Pay for newly qualified solicitors in the City has risen dramatically over recent years, driven primarily by fierce competition from American firms. The highest-paid newly qualified solicitors are thought to be at Gibson Dunn, the American firm, where they are on salaries of £180,000 at the end of their two-year training contracts.
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The top 24 highest-paying City law firms for newly qualified lawyers are all based in the United States. They are well ahead of the five English “magic circle” firms of Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters and Slaughter and May, all of which pay their graduate lawyers starting salaries of £125,000.
This year Slaughter and May became the fourth of the elite group to launch an apprenticeship scheme, joining Allen & Overy, Freshfields and Linklaters. Of those, Allen & Overy and Linklaters reported first-year salaries of £25,000.
Partners at the magic circle firms are some of the highest-paid in the international legal profession. Those at Freshfields topped last year’s magic circle pay battle, revealing that full-equity partners at the firm earned on average £2.09 million each.
Other City players also have divulged their top pay for apprentices, with Stephenson Harwood coming near the top with a wage of £53,500 for those in their sixth year. Bates Wells, a City firm that has a reputation for acting for some of Britain’s biggest charities, said it paid its sixth-year apprentices £43,000.
Apprenticeships in the legal profession were given a boost three years ago when regulators overhauled the qualification process by implementing the solicitors qualifying exam. The two-part exam was designed to expand diversity in the profession by, in principle, creating a route to qualification for non-graduates. Aspiring solicitors must complete a period of authorised work experience, which includes apprenticeships, and then must pass the exam.
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The system replaces the legal practice course, more than 30 years old, on which only graduates could enrol. They also were required to complete a two-year training contract at a law firm or other approved employer.
Under the reformed process, many law firm apprentices are combining work with part-time degree studies.
