Slaughter and May has raised its salary for associates and handed out bonuses.

The changes are applicable to those associates who have a minimum of two and a half years post-qualified experience (PQE).

First reported by Roll on Friday, associate salaries at the Magic Circle firm will increase by between 2.2% and 8.2% from this month.

The firm confirmed that associates received a bonus in December for 2019 ranging from 8.7% to 14.6%. The bonuses are not dependent on billed hours.

A spokesperson for the Magic Circle firm said in a statement: "We continue to value and recognise everyone's contribution by rewarding our associates in a way that reflects the partnership's flat lockstep structure and by not imposing billing or time recording targets."

Last June, the firm raised the salary for newly-qualified (NQ) associates to at least £92,000 – and up to £100,000 a year with a bonus – from £83,000 previously in a bid to compete in the NQ pay war and retain young talent.

A battle to offer the best compensation packages to junior lawyers has been growing fiercer in recent years.

In 2019, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer became the first U.K. firm to hike its pay package for newly qualified associates up to £100,000 in May.

Since then, all Magic Circle firms matched the £100,000 rise with varying maximum earnings, with Linklaters the last to raise rates. Other firms have also joined the trend, including Travers SmithStephenson Harwood and Simmons & Simmons.