Mishcon de Reya ups the ammunition for young guns it hires

It is raising its 2025 NQ (newly qualified) salary to £100,000, effective from September. The firm says it has also increased its trainee salaries. First-year trainees will receive a salary of £50,000 and second-year trainees £55,000, effective from July.

Vanessa Dewhurst, Partner and Chief People Officer at Mishcon de Reya, said the move was a potential game-changer as it head-hunts top talent. She said: “Each year we review NQ and trainee salaries to ensure competitive rates for our newly qualified (NQ) and trainee lawyers. As part of this review, we have conducted a benchmarking exercise to ensure that our salaries remain attractive, fair and sustainable.

“Our people are our greatest asset and we have considered extensively how to ensure we best reward all of our people. We do this through a mix of pay, bonuses and a generous range of benefits as well as the opportunity to work with some of the most interesting clients on some of the most complex legal matters. This ensures that Mishcon de Reya is an attractive destination for the brightest talent and rewards our people for the exceptional contribution they make to our firm.”

Mishcon de Reya is an independent law firm, which now employs over 1400 people with more than 650 lawyers offering a wide range of legal services to companies and individuals. The firm has grown rapidly in recent years, showing more than 40 per cent revenue growth in the past five years alone.

With a presence in London, Oxford, Cambridge, Singapore and Hong Kong (through its association with Karas So LLP), the firm services an international community of clients and provides advice in situations where the constraints of geography often do not apply.

The work the firm undertakes is cross-border, multi-jurisdictional and complex, spanning six core practice areas: Corporate; Dispute Resolution; Employment; Innovation; Private; and Real Estate.