Travers nudges ahead of Macfarlanes as both firms up associate pay

Macfarlanes and Travers Smith have both upped their associate pay to £71,000 and £71,500 respectively.

Newly-qualified (NQ) lawyers at both firms will be entitled to over £1,000 more than the last financial year, with Macfarlanes’ NQs taking home £71,000 and Travers’ NQs paid a slightly higher salary of £71,500.

Travers’ pay for associates  is higher at all levels, with lawyers in their third year post-qualification receiving £100,000. Macfarlanes lawyers at the same level will take between £85,000 and £95,000.

Lawyers at Macfarlanes in their first-year post qualification will see their pay upped to between £77,000 and £79,000. Those in their second year will then receive between £80,000 and £88,000.

Meanwhile at Travers, lawyers in their first-year post qualification will receive £79,000 and £91,000 for associates in their second-year post qualification.

Alongside the pay increases, Macfarlanes has also revamped its bonus structure. The maximum performance bonus that lawyers could receive was previously 15 per cent, but this has now risen to 25 per cent.

In general, lawyers at Macfarlanes received an average bonus of 9.3 per cent in the last financial year, while an additional all-staff bonus will be paid out in October.