We have more than 25 years of experience in corporate law, business and finance.
We’ve worked at leading law firms advising the world’s biggest banks and global corporations on complex legal issues and, in our business lives, we’ve instructed law firms as paying clients.
One of the most important skills for the modern lawyer is commercial awareness.
It’s this skill that separates the good lawyers from the great lawyers.
It’s this skill that will get you promoted at your law firm.
It’s this skill that will mean that the best clients will instruct you on the best matters.
This guide breaks down commercial awareness for lawyers. We’ll look at:
We hope you find it useful.
The top UK law firms pay big money to their lawyers who, in return, work long hours for demanding clients often on matters across several time zones.
Salaries at the top law firms have soared in recent years and continue to rise, driven by two main factors:
London-based firms offer the highest salaries because that’s where the top firms are located.
The table below lists the current salaries paid by the UK’s top law firms.
It lists trainee salaries - both first and second year - and also newly qualified (NQ) salaries for each firm.
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Law Firm | Trainee First Year | Trainee Second Year | Newly Qualified (NQ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Addleshaw Goddard | £52,000 | £56,000 | £100,000 |
| Akin Gump | £57,500 | £62,500 | £169,235 |
| A&O Shearman | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Ashurst | £52,000 | £57,000 | £125,000 |
| Baker McKenzie | £56,000 | £61,000 | £140,000 |
| Bird & Bird | £47,000 | £52,000 | £98,000 |
| Bristows | £46,000 | £50,000 | £88,000 |
| Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner | £50,000 | £55,000 | £105,000 |
| Burges Salmon | £45,000 | £47,000 | £68,000 |
| Charles Russell Speechlys | £47,000 | £50,000 | £88,000 |
| Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton | £57,500 | £62,500 | £160,000 |
| Clifford Chance | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Clyde & Co | £42,000 | £44,500 | £85,000 |
| CMS | £50,000 | £55,000 | £110,000 |
| Cooley | £52,000 | £57,000 | £150,000 |
| Davis Polk & Wardwell | £65,000 | £70,000 | £170,000 |
| Debevoise & Plimpton | £55,000 | £60,000 | £160,500 |
| Dechert | £50,000 | £55,000 | £145,000 |
| Dentons | £50,000 | £54,000 | £95,000 |
| DLA Piper | £50,000 | £55,000 | £110,000 |
| Eversheds Sutherland | £46,000 | £50,000 | £100,000 |
| Farrer & Co | £45,000 | £48,000 | £83,000 |
| Fieldfisher | £46,000 | £49,500 | £95,000 |
| Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Fried Frank | £55,000 | £60,000 | £175,000 |
| Gateley | £36,000 | £38,500 | £75,000 |
| Gibson Dunn | £60,000 | £65,000 | £180,000 |
| Goodwin Procter | £55,000 | £60,000 | £175,000 |
| Gowling WLG | £47,000 | £52,000 | £98,000 |
| Herbert Smith Freehills | £56,000 | £61,000 | £135,000 |
| HFW | £46,000 | £50,000 | £100,000 |
| Hill Dickinson | £39,000 | £41,000 | £72,000 |
| Hogan Lovells | £56,000 | £61,000 | £135,000 |
| Irwin Mitchell | £40,000 | £42,000 | £75,000 |
| Jones Day | £54,000 | £63,000 | £145,000 |
| K&L Gates | £50,000 | £55,000 | £110,000 |
| Kennedys | £41,000 | £44,000 | £85,000 |
| King & Spalding | £50,000 | £55,000 | £156,000 |
| Kirkland & Ellis | £60,000 | £65,000 | £169,235 |
| Latham & Watkins | £50,000 | £55,000 | £169,235 |
| Linklaters | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Macfarlanes | £56,000 | £61,000 | £140,000 |
| Mayer Brown | £50,000 | £55,000 | £120,000 |
| McDermott Will & Emery | £65,000 | £70,000 | £174,418 |
| Milbank | £57,500 | £62,500 | £174,418 |
| Mills & Reeve | £30,000 | £32,000 | £58,000 |
| Mischon de Reya | £47,500 | £52,500 | £95,000 |
| Norton Rose Fulbright | £42,500 | £53,000 | £120,000 |
| Orrick | £55,000 | £60,000 | £140,000 |
| Osborne Clarke | £54,500 | £56,000 | £94,000 |
| Paul Hastings | £55,000 | £60,000 | £173,000 |
| Paul Weiss | n/a | n/a | £180,000 |
| Penningtons Manches Cooper | £45,000 | £47,000 | £75,000 |
| Pinsent Masons | £47,000 | £51,500 | £97,000 |
| Quinn Emanuel | n/a | n/a | £180,000 |
| Reed Smith | £50,000 | £55,000 | £125,000 |
| Ropes & Gray | £60,000 | £65,000 | £165,000 |
| RPC | £44,000 | £48,000 | £85,000 |
| Shearman & Sterling | £55,000 | £60,000 | £145,000 |
| Shoosmiths | £43,000 | £45,000 | £97,000 |
| Sidley Austin | £60,000 | £65,000 | £175,000 |
| Simmons & Simmons | £52,000 | £57,000 | £120,000 |
| Skadden | £58,000 | £63,000 | £173,000 |
| Slaughter and May | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Squire Patton Boggs | £47,000 | £50,000 | £110,000 |
| Stephenson Harwood | £50,000 | £55,000 | £100,000 |
| Sullivan & Cromwell | £60,000 | £65,000 | £170,000 |
| Taylor Wessing | £50,000 | £55,000 | £115,000 |
| TLT | £42,500 | £45,500 | £75,000 |
| Travers Smith | £54,000 | £59,000 | £120,000 |
| Trowers & Hamlins | £45,000 | £49,000 | £80,000 |
| Vinson & Elkins | £60,000 | £65,000 | £173,822 |
| Watson Farley & Williams | £50,000 | £55,000 | £102,000 |
| Weightmans | £32,000 | £34,000 | £60,000 |
| Weil Gotshal & Manges | £60,000 | £65,000 | £170,000 |
| White & Case | £62,000 | £67,000 | £175,000 |
| Willkie Farr & Gallagher | £55,000 | £60,000 | £150,000 |
| Withers | £45,000 | £49,000 | £90,000 |
| Womble Bond Dickinson | £42,000 | £44,000 | £78,000 |
Rank | Law Firm | Revenue | Profit per Equity Partner (PEP) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DLA Piper* | £2,833,000,000 | £2,140,000 |
| 2 | Hogan Lovells* | £2,158,000,000 | £2,204,000 |
| 3 | Allen & Overy | £2,100,000,000 | £1,820,000 |
| 4 | Clifford Chance | £2,060,000,000 | £2,000,000 |
| 5 | Linklaters | £1,900,000,000 | £1,779,000 |
| 6 | Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer | £1,840,000,000 | £2,090,000 |
| 7 | Norton Rose Fulbright* | £1,640,000,000 | £820,000 |
| 8 | CMS** | £1,591,000,000 | Not disclosed |
| 9 | Herbert Smith Freehills | £1,186,000,000 | £1,173,000 |
| 10 | Ashurst | £879,000,000 | £1,170,000 |
| 11 | Clyde & Co | £788,600,000 | £708,000 |
| 12 | Eversheds Sutherland | £730,900,000 | £1,290,000 |
| 13 | Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner* | £664,000,000 | £740,000 |
| 14 | Pinsent Masons | £605,900,000 | £797,000 |
| 15 | Slaughter and May*** | £572,000,000 | Not disclosed |
| 16 | Simmons & Simmons | £521,000,000 | £1,002,000 |
| 17 | Bird & Bird** | £495,000,000 | £669,000 |
| 18 | DWF | £451,600,000 | Not disclosed |
| 19 | Addleshaw Goddard | £443,000,000 | Not disclosed |
| 20 | Taylor Wessing | £439,000,000 | £809,000*** |
| 21 | Womble Bond Dickinson* | £417,000,000 | £550,000 |
| 22 | Osborne Clarke** | £377,000,000 | £687,000 |
| 23 | Fieldfisher | £370,000,000 | £930,000 |
| 24 | Kennedys | £313,000,000 | Not disclosed |
| 25 | Macfarlanes | £296,600,000 | £2,100,000 |
For trainees, US firms Davis Polk and McDermott Will & Emery pay the highest salaries.
First year trainees are paid £65,000, and second year trainees £70,000.
For newly qualified solicitors, US firms Gibson Dunn, Quinn Emanuel and Paul Weiss pay the highest salary.
Newly qualified solicitors are paid £180,000 at all three firms.
NB: Paul Weiss is launching a London training contract in 2026.
Here’s a list of Magic Circle law firm salaries:
Law Firm | Trainee First Year | Trainee Second Year | Newly Qualified (NQ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A&O Shearman | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Clifford Chance | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Linklaters | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Slaughter and May | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
Law Firm | Trainee First Year | Trainee Second Year | Newly Qualified (NQ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A&O Shearman | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Clifford Chance | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Linklaters | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Slaughter and May | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
Law Firm | Trainee First Year | Trainee Second Year | Newly Qualified (NQ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashurst | £52,000 | £57,000 | £125,000 |
| Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner | £50,000 | £55,000 | £105,000 |
| Herbert Smith Freehills | £56,000 | £61,000 | £135,000 |
| Macfarlanes | £56,000 | £61,000 | £140,000 |
| Travers Smith | £54,000 | £59,000 | £120,000 |
Here’s a list of Silver Circle law firm salaries:
Law Firm | Trainee First Year | Trainee Second Year | Newly Qualified (NQ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashurst | £52,000 | £57,000 | £125,000 |
| Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner | £50,000 | £55,000 | £105,000 |
| Herbert Smith Freehills | £56,000 | £61,000 | £135,000 |
| Macfarlanes | £56,000 | £61,000 | £140,000 |
| Travers Smith | £54,000 | £59,000 | £120,000 |
We gather salary information from a range of sources, including law firm websites and press releases, from readers of our newsletter who tell us what their law firms currently pay, and from other reputable sources online.
We regularly update our database but if you spot anything that is incorrect or out of date, please let us know by emailing us at newsletter@nonbillable.co.uk.
Where firms have offices outside of London, the London salary is given.*
*Burges Salmon salaries are for its Bristol office.
Some US firm salaries have been converted from USD at the then current exchange rate.
Some US firms determine pay for their London lawyers based on the salary scale they apply within the US, and then apply a fixed exchange rate to determine pay in GBP. For example, we understand Milbank applies a fixed exchange rate of £1 = $1.29. First-year lawyers (i.e. NQs) are paid $225,000, with London lawyers therefore paid £174,418.
Get the free email that keeps UK lawyers ahead on the stories that matter.
We send a short summary of the biggest legal industry and business stories you need to know about three times a week. Free to join. Unsubscribe at any time.
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