Norton Rose has decided against unfreezing pay for its newly-qualified (NQ) lawyers, while carrying out discretionary pay reviews for the firm's more experienced associates.

Pay for first-year associates will remain at £59,000, while trainee rates have been increased from £35,700 to £37,000.

Norton Rose introduced a merit-based salary system for associates in 2008, meaning that NQ and trainee rates are the only set salaries at the firm.

The firm has unfrozen salaries elsewhere, with those above NQ level receiving a discretionary pay rise based on performance, although the firm declined to disclose how much their top-earning associates now earn.

Last year, Norton Rose dropped NQ rates from £63,500 to £59,000 and froze all other salaries.

London HR head Lak Purewal said: "We feel that these rates are competitive. We have seen the levels that the magic circle firms have announced and their newly-qualified rates are there or thereabouts."

Norton Rose has also reviewed support staff salaries for the year ahead, after freezing all rates in 2009.

The news follows Hogan Lovells' announcement last week that associate salaries would be marginally increased to a range of £60,000-£81,000 from NQ up to three years' post-qualification experience.

Other firms to have announced their associate salaries for the year ahead include Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Clifford Chance, Slaughter and May and Allen & Overy, all of which have unfrozen progression through their lockstep pay bands.

Norton Rose on the Legal Week Wiki