Norton Rose has increased its newly-qualified (NQ) salaries to £60,000 from £59,000 and raised the lowest-level bonus rate from 2.5% to 5%.

The top 10 City firm has opted to keep first-year trainee pay stable at £37,000 after reviewing salaries for this financial year, having increased trainee rates by 4% last year. Pay for the firm's more experienced associates is linked to the firm's merit-based model introduced three years ago.

Bonuses will now range from 5% to 30% after the firm opted to increase the basic rate for associates billing at least 1,500 hours to 5%, up from the previous level of 2.5%. The top rate of 30% applies to associates billing 2,500 hours or more during the financial year.

During the financial downturn Norton Rose opted to lower NQ salaries from a high of £63,500 down to £59,000, with many rival firms making similar cuts.

Norton Rose HR head Lak Purewal said: "We have opted for a slight increase to bring ourselves in line with market rates for NQ salaries. It was decreased in the financial downturn but as part of this review we decided to opt for a small increase to £60,000."

The news comes as Simmons & Simmons – which also has a merit-based salary system for experienced associates – has opted to keep NQ rates stable at £59,000. The firm is also keeping its trainee rates static at £36,000 for first-year trainees and £40,000 for second-year trainees.

Other firms to have recently announce pay reviews include Allen & Overy and Linklaters – which both opted to freeze rates but still move associates through the pay bands – and Slaughter and May, which opted for modest increases.