UK lawyers are overwhelmingly backing Masons' decision to slash its newly-qualified salaries from £47,000 to £43,000, branding previous years' pay rises as unsustainable.

The consensus, as revealed in the latest Legal Week/EJ Legal Big Question survey of more than 100 leading partners, sees three-quarters (74%) of respondents agreeing with Masons' stance.

A further 89% endorsed the assertion of Masons senior partner Martin Harman that boom-
era pay hikes for junior lawyers were "substantial and probably unsustainable".

Despite concerns that cutting salaries will impact on graduate recruitment, more than two-thirds (67%) of our panel also said the cut will have no impact on the quality of recruits that Masons attracts, against 33% who believed it would have a negative effect.

"It is tough enough getting a job at a decent firm, so I am sure people will be pleased despite a slightly lower salary," said Davies Arnold Cooper executive partner Danny Gowan.

Olswang property partner David Saunders commented: "A few years ago, everyone felt they had to compete with the dotcoms, which were taking people away from private practice, but that is not happening now.

"Lawyers get paid a lot of money compared to the real world, and it does not do any harm to remember that."

The results come as the number of UK firms cutting base rates for junior lawyers grows, with CMS Cameron McKenna and Travers Smith Braithwaite last week confirming a drop in their newly-qualified rates from £50,000 to £48,000.

The first of the salary cuts came in April this year, when Clifford Chance (CC) dropped its rate from £50,000 to £48,000. Since then firms including Simmons & Simmons, SJ Berwin and Hammonds have made similar reductions.

However, despite widespread support for cutting assistant pay, the survey found relatively few firms plan to follow the lead of Masons and CC.

Asked about their own policy, 76% of respondents said their firm had frozen assistant rates this year, against 13% noting a decrease. In addition, 11% said rates had increased.

Against such a backdrop, few of our panel were willing to predict whether this year's cuts would become a trend.

"A lot of this is led by the economy and if the economy picks up the big firms might be inclined to raise the rate again," Gowan said.