Magic Circle law firm Clifford Chance ups pay for junior lawyers to £125,000 a year - CityAM (2024)

FAQs

Which magic circle law firm pays the most? ›

Magic circle law firm Freshfields ups NQ salary to £150,000

The £150,000 salary a year for NQ now surpasses the rest of the magic circle. However, it is not the highest in the market as US firm Gibson Dunn leads as it pays its London NQ £180,000 a year.

The average Clifford Chance hourly pay ranges from approximately £9 per hour (estimate) for a Legal Assistant/Paralegal to £15 per hour (estimate) for a Reprographics Operator. Clifford Chance employees rate the overall compensation and benefits package 4/5 stars.

Clifford Chance is a Magic Circle firm known for large corporate deals in areas such as banking, with a particular emphasis on transactional work.

In Canada, Bay Street law firms, or as they are also known as the Seven Sisters are amongst the highest-paying law firms in the country.

The amount taken home by Clifford Chance's highest paid member, which last year soared by 35% to hit almost £5 million, dropped by 2.5% to £4.82 million.

With $2,550,900,000 gross revenue in 2022, the firm placed 13th on the 2023 Global 200 ranking. Clifford Chance has 2547 attorneys and the firm placed 2nd on the 2023 UK 100 ranking.

Clifford Chance has become the latest law firm to hand its junior people in London a bonus, as the cost of living soars in the U.K. The firm has handed out lump sums of £1500 to its trainees and business services professionals, taking into account the current financial environment in the U.K.

Attorneys responded to the most recent survey between January and March 2023, and the results of the poll rank the following as the top five most prestigious firms in the world for 2024: Cravath, Swaine & Moore. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Skadden.

The term 'magic circle' was first coined by legal journalists in the late 1990s, and for the past 15 years it has consisted of a distinct group of five: Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Freshfields, Linklaters, and Slaughter and May. What sets these firms apart from the rest of the UK legal market?

Who are the magic 5 lawyers? ›

At the time, these firms were Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters, and Slaughter and May. Generally, the Magic Circle firms have among the highest earnings-per-partner and earnings-per-lawyer of UK-headquartered law firms.

Well, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median salary for attorneys in the US is just over $125,000. The highest-paid lawyers (10% of the legal workforce) make over $208,000 However, the top 1% of attorneys make $500,000 or more per year. — How come the top 1% do so much better than the rest?

The term 'magic circle' was first coined by legal journalists in the late 1990s, and for the past 15 years it has consisted of a distinct group of five: Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Freshfields, Linklaters, and Slaughter and May. What sets these firms apart from the rest of the UK legal market?

The estimated total pay range for a Associate at Clifford Chance is HK$1.2M–HK$1.7M per year, which includes base salary and additional pay. The average Associate base salary at Clifford Chance is HK$1.4M per year.

According to Major, Lindsey & Africa's 2022 Partner Compensation Survey, the average compensation for US law firm partners soared to a record-breaking $1.12 million—an unprecedented figure since the survey's inception in 2010. The median compensation stood at $675,000.