Partners at City law firm take record £2m pay home

CLIFFORD Chance has become the first elite magic circle law firm to break the £2m pay barrier for its partners after awarding them an inflation-busting 10pc rise.

The firm’s equity partners will take home a record average of almost £2.1m each after revenues jumped by 8pc to nearly £2bn on the back of a surge in deal making post-pandemic.

The move means Clifford Chance has become the highest paying member of London’s five “magic circle” firms, overtaking Allen & Overy, which last week boosted average partner pay to £1.9m.

It comes as UK firms face an arms race with US entrants to the British legal market who are leading the charge in aggressively hiking pay packets to record highs.

Last week, Akin Gump, a US firm, boosted the starting salaries for its London-based junior solicitors to £179,000, significantly higher than its Uk-headquartered rivals. Clifford Chance offers solicitors at the same level £125,000.

Charles Adams, Clifford Chance’s global managing partner, said the firm continued to increase its market share in the 12 months to April and grew in “priority geographies” such as the Americas.

However, the firm’s annual results only run to the end of April and do not take into account its decision to withdraw from Russia following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that pay growth for top earners in the UK has jumped significantly in recent months amid a war for talent. Torsten Bell, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, said: “You know who has lots of labour market power right now? The highest earners. Staggering pay growth at the top.”

Freshfields and Linklaters are expected to release annual results in the coming weeks.

Slaughter and May, the fifth Magic Circle law firm, is not required to publish financial results or partner pay as it is not a limited liability partnership.