Ropes & Gray is the latest firm to boost the salaries of its newly-qualified (NQ) lawyers in London, the firm has announced.

New associates at the firm can now expect to receive an extra £10,000, taking home £130,000. NQs are also eligible for a discretionary bonus on top of their salaries.

The pay increase comes almost a year after London firms confronted an NQ pay war in a bid to attract and retain junior talent, triggered by Magic Circle firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, which raised its NQ pay to £100,000, joining a U.S.-led trend of lifting NQ pay into the six-figures.

Other firms following the trend included Linklaters, Allen & Overy, Hogan Lovells, Travers Smith, and more.

Though his firm raised its NQ pay, at the time Linklaters' managing partner Gideon Moore slammed the the pay war, saying: "You have to ask the people who started this process what exactly they expected to achieve from it."

Last year, Ropes boosted its trainee salaries in London by £4,000 for first-year trainees – who can now earn £50,000 a year – and by £5,000 for second-year trainees, who now earn £55,000 a year.

Last month, Slaughter and May became the first firm this year to raise pay for associates who have a minimum two and a half years post-qualified experience (PQE), though the firm did not disclose the amount.