Clifford Chance has increased its newly qualified (NQ) lawyer pay to £100,000, as law firms battle to stay competitive in the City by raising rates for junior lawyers.

The Magic Circle firm has increased its NQ pay from £91,000 to the six-figure salary, including bonuses.

The increase follows that of fellow Magic Circle firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, which boosted its NQ pay to £100,000 last month – an increase of £9,000.

Freshfields associates can still receive discretionary bonuses on top of the base salary, in contrast to CC associates.

The moves are the latest signs that a pay war has begun in the U.K.

Ropes & Gray kicked off the rises when it boosted pay for its NQ U.K. associates by 4% in February to £120,000 plus bonus. The firm's previous first-year associate basic rate was £115,000.

In May, Shearman & Sterling increased its NQ rate by 14% to also hit £120,000.

Some firms already pay above that rate, including Skadden, which has paid NQs in London £133,000 since last August. Pay for trainees at the New York-headquarted firm also increased in August, with first-year pay now at £50,000, up from £45,000, and second-year pay also increasing by £5,000 to £55,000.

The other Magic Circle firms – Linklaters, Allen & Overy and Slaughter and May – all currently pay £83,000 to NQs. Linklaters boosted its associate pay in October, with Slaughters following suit in December.

In November, CC confirmed that its most senior U.S. associates would receive bonuses of up to $100,000, matching the rates set by U.S. outfit Cravath Swaine & Moore, while its most junior U.S. associates are eligible for a $15,000 bonus.