Kirkland & Ellis has increased newly-qualified lawyer (NQ) salaries to £97,000 in a move which will bring it in line with rival US firms including Weil Gotshal & Manges.

The salary increase, which represents an 8% increase on last year's rate of £90,000, places the firm at the top end of the US firm salary spectrum.

It is understood that the equivalent rate for lawyers with one year's post-qualification experience (PQE) is in excess of £100,000.

Weil Gotshal's NQ rate increased by 8% from September 2011, with lawyers set to receive £97,000, also up from £90,000.

Meanwhile, lawyers with one year's PQE took home £100,000 compared with the previous year's rate of between £90,000 and £95,950.

Other US firms to announce salary rates in recent months include Shearman & Sterling, which in May 2011 upped pay levels in its three-tier merit-based pay system by as much as 15%.

A number of firms paying New York rates announced their London salaries earlier last year, including Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, which raised City NQ rates by 3.3% to £95,000.

Latham & Watkins and Baker & McKenzie, meanwhile, were among those to freeze associate salary levels, with NQ pay remaining at £96,970 and £61,000 respectively. At Bakers, trainees were the only London lawyers to see increases in salary rates.