Slaughter and May has cut newly-qualified (NQ) salaries by £5,000 for its trainees qualifying in September, according to a person close to the matter.

The firm, which raised its NQ salaries to at least £92,000 in June last year, has decided to cut its soon-to-qualify trainees' salary to £87,000 due to the coronavirus crisis, the person said.

The story was first reported by RollOnFriday.

In January, Slaughters raised its associate pay and bonus hand-outs to associates who have a minimum of two and a half years post-qualified experience (PQE).

That move was part of an ongoing pay war to retain young talent, which was ramped up

Slaughters had raised its NQ salaries last June in the midst of a pay war to retain young talent. The battle was intensified by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in 2019, when it raised its NQ salaries to £100,000 last May. In the two months following that move, more than a dozen other firms followed suit, including main rivals Linklaters, Slaughters, Clifford Chance and Allen & Overy.

Other firms have responded in similar ways to financial risks caused by outbreak. At the end of March Allen & Overy asked partners to contribute capital to the business and is also reducing its partner profit distributions. Last month, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Linklaters decided to suspend their latest quarterly partner distributions.

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