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United States Milbank bumps first-year pay to $215000, outflanking Magic Circle in talent war
US law firm Milbank hiked pay for its junior lawyers to $215,000, heating up the war for talent in the legal sector.
The firm boosted pay by $10,000 for its more junior lawyers and by $20,000 for its mid-level and senior associates, according to a memo seen by Financial News.
The pay rise applies to associates in the firm’s US, London, Asia, and São Paulo offices and will take effect retroactively from 1 January.
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The new compensation scale stretches from $215,000 for lawyers from the class of 2021 to $385,000 for the class of 2014 and above, according to the memo.
Finance-law powerhouse Milbank has consistently pushed the envelope on pay in recent years amid fierce competition between the top firms for junior talent.
Just in June last year, Milbank kicked off a round of pay-rises when it lifted salaries for its first-year lawyers from $190,000 to $200,000.
Rival firm Davis Polk & Wardwell responded by raising salaries for its 2021 lawyers to $205,000, a scale that Milbank and other US law firms also adopted.
Milbank’s move on salaries will now likely be followed by other top firms in the market who traditionally match each other on junior pay and bonuses.
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The market for junior lawyers on both sides of the Atlantic is tight thanks to a combination of increased attrition — lots of disillusioned juniors dropped out during the pandemic — and increased demand from record levels of deal activity in 2021.
However, the UK’s leading Magic Circle law firms are way behind their US rivals on pay.
Linklaters, for example, hiked pay for newly qualified lawyers to £107,500 in September 2021, its second increase in three months. But Milbank's first-year lawyer pay translates to a whopping £157,600 based on today’s exchange rates.
Milbank moved to new offices in London at 100 Liverpool Street in November 2021, taking 70,000 square feet of space. US legal site Above the Law first reported the Milbank memo.
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To contact the author of this story with feedback or news, email James Booth
