Slaughter and May has restarted its associate lockstep and overhauled its salary bands, as the firm narrows the pay gap between its one and three-year qualified lawyers.

The new pay structure, which is effective as of 1 May, will see the firm's salaries now range from a newly-qualified (NQ) rate of £61,000 to £82,000 for solicitors with three years' post-qualification experience (PQE).

First-year PQE salaries have been increased from £66,000 to £67,500, while two-year PQE pay has risen marginally from £71,500 to £72,000.

However, three-year PQE salaries have been reduced from £84,000 to £82,000.

NQ rates will remain static at £61,000, as will trainee rates of £38,000 for first-years and £43,000 for second-years.

The firm, which unusually makes a twice-yearly assessment of lawyers' salaries in April and November, will review its pay again later this year.

Slaughters executive partner Graham White (pictured) commented: "We have tried to get a balance between a relatively uncertain economic climate and rewarding people for the hard work and experience they have. We, unlike most other firms, review our salaries twice a year so we will look again at salaries in November."

In common with many City law firms, Slaughters last year halted its associate lockstep, dropping salaries for newly-qualified lawyers from £66,000 to £61,000 in response to the global recession. The decision meant lawyers received the same in 2009 as they did in 2008, despite having one year's more experience.

Fellow magic circle firms Allen and Overy, Clifford Chance and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have all recently announced similar moves, moving associates through their annual salary bands once more as well as making modest rises to the bands.