Ashurst has upped its associate salaries, with the City giant matching firms including Linklaters and Herbert Smith to pay its newly-qualified solicitors £64,000.

The pay-rise, effective from the start of this month, represents a 16% increase on last year's rate of £55,000.

Newly-qualified lawyers at Ashurst will now receive more than those at City rivals including Norton Rose, Slaughter and May, Clifford Chance (CC) and Lovells, all of which pay £63,500.

However, despite the rise, Ashurst continues to lag behind the likes of Allen & Overy and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, which offer new solicitors a base rate of £65,000.

Ashurst firm has also announced a 13% increase for solicitors with one year's post-qualification experience (PQE), with base pay going up from £60,000 to £68,000.

CC and Slaughters pay lawyers with one year PQE £66,000 and £67,000 respectively. On top of base salary, Ashurst also offers all its fee earners a bonus that is partly dependent on chargeable hours and partly on non-chargeable activity.

The changes come after Ashurst earlier this month announced provisional financial results for 2006-07 showing turnover up by 28.5% to reach £275m.

Join the pay debate with the Legal Week Wiki 2007 salary special.