A City insurance law business raises the compensation of newly-qualified attorneys by 60%, to £80,000.
The younger attorneys at the insurance law company Kennedys are receiving a 60 percent wage increase.
Juniors will now receive £80,000 annually, up from £50,000 previously.
Kennedys has also increased London trainee wages to £44,000
The increase in pay comes as Britons struggle with income inflation and rising living expenses.
A City firm has offered a 60 cent raise to newly-qualified attorneys, bringing their yearly remuneration to £80,000.
Executives at Kennedys upped the salaries of their junior attorneys from £50,000 to £80,000. It also increased London trainee pay from £41,000 to £44,000.
Kennedys upped its salary after two of the world’s wealthiest legal firms, Kirkland & Ellis and Latham & Watkins, increased wages for their juniors, establishing a new record for junior attorneys in the City.
The insurance law firm Kennedys has offered its junior attorneys a 60% pay increase in response to London’s increasing wage inflation.
Despite the significant pay increase, Kennedys lags behind other businesses in the city.
Analysis indicated that Kennedys claimed the ‘latest and most substantial’ percentage compensation increase for junior City solicitors this year.
The company, which was created in the 19th century, stated it had surpassed its yearly revenue record with an increase of 8% year-over-year and a worldwide turnover of £286 million.
As criminal defense attorneys go on strike over salary,
After their dispute with the government over pay escalated, criminal barristers in England and Wales have essentially declared a continuous strike.
Members of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) have been on strike every other week and have voted for an indefinite, continuous strike. The full-scale strike began when industrial action resumed on Tuesday, despite the fact that the formal start date is September 5; the pattern of one-week-on, one-week-off walkouts continues in the interim.
The chairman of the CBA, Jo Sidhu QC, had to apologize to the Recorder of London, Judge Mark Lucraft QC, for missing a court hearing while participating in the strike on Friday, the penultimate day of work for barristers before the intensification of action.
Mr. Sidhu represents a vulnerable man charged with murder in an upcoming October trial at the Old Bailey.
Sir Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour Party, accused the government of doing “absolutely nothing” to address industrial disputes when it was revealed that the Justice Secretary was on vacation when the results of the ballot were disclosed.
Dominic Raab was on leave with his family in Surrey until Thursday, according to a Ministry of Justice (MoJ) spokesman, but he maintained regular touch with MoJ officials.
Since members began strike action in April, he has not met with the CBA, but subordinate ministers have met with the group frequently.
In August of last year, the former foreign secretary was criticized for being on vacation in Crete during the Taliban seizure of the Afghan capital Kabul.
According to estimates from the Ministry of Justice, more than 6,000 court hearings have been interrupted as a result of the conflict over the terms and costs imposed by the government for legal aid advocacy work.
Beginning at the end of September, criminal barristers will receive a 15% fee increase, resulting in an annual increase of £7,000.
However, there has been outrage over the fact that the proposed wage increase will not take effect immediately and will only apply to new cases, not those currently in the court’s backlog.
Nick Thomas, a senior partner, recognized that the increase was significant, but that it will also aid in recruiting and retention.
He told The Times, “This is the marketplace.” We do not want someone to come up and steal our freshly qualified attorneys once we have taught them.
Kennedys did not answer to MailOnline’s request for comment immediately.
Despite the significant salary rise, Kennedys continues to lag behind other local businesses.
Kirkland & Ellis and Latham & Watkins upped salary for junior lawyers to £182,000 per year, surpassing the previous high set by Akin Gump, which was paying £179,000.
The three highest-paying offices are international law firms with American headquarters: Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, and Akin Gump.
In April, Akin Gump first set salaries for its freshly certified London attorneys, who are typically in their mid- to late-twenties, at £164,000. However, their remuneration is fixed in dollars.
Since April, the value of the pound has plummeted, and Akin Gump has now adjusted its London salary conversion rate to reflect this.
In July, the Anglo-Australian law firm Herbert Smith Freehills, one of the top 10 highest-earning firms in the City, upped its base wage for freshly qualified lawyers by 24%. Graduates are now paid £120,000 per year upon qualification.
Companies headquartered in the United Kingdom have typically paid less than their American competitors. Clifford Chance and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer pay their newly-qualified attorneys £125,000.
Allen & Overy and Linklaters, the second highest-paying firms in London, give £107,500 to junior associates.
Allen & Overy disclosed the salary increase of its equity partners in its July financial reports. The company reported a 10% increase in revenue to £1.94 billion and a 9% increase in profit to £900 million for the fiscal year ending in April 2022.
It ascribed the good performance to a surge in mergers and acquisitions last year, with legal firms raking in astronomical fees from advising corporations seeking to acquire a competitor, sell themselves, or combine with a peer.
Holman Fenwick Willan and Clyde & Co, both English firms, have recently boosted the salaries of its junior attorneys to £85,000 and £80,000, respectively.
The highest-paying law companies in London are Clifford Chance and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, where junior attorneys earn £125,000 yearly.
Analysts observe that American legal firms in London give their junior associates larger compensation than their British counterparts.
They are reportedly attempting to align salaries at its London locations with those offered at their U.S. headquarters.
Due to this strategy, American companies are often criticized for ‘fueling’ salary inflation in the City.
Despite a recent wage increase, the fortunes of Britain’s top business solicitors contrast starkly with those of criminal law barristers, the majority of whom rely on legal aid costs.
The Criminal Bar Association asserts that sector specialists in their first three years of practice earn just £12,200 annually as a result of legal aid cuts that have pushed barristers to strike.
Meanwhile, Britons are attempting to manage as the cost of living problem continues to deteriorate, with analysts anticipating that this winter’s inflation rate could reach 22%.