Magic Circle firm Clifford Chance has announced salary increases for its senior lawyers, but a pay freeze for trainees and newly-qualified solicitors.

The Canary Wharf-based firm will pay lawyers with three years’ experience a salary of £85,500, up by £1,000 on last year.

Those with two years’ PQE will receive £75,000 a year, a rise of £2,750, while those with one year’s PQE will earn an extra £500 a year, bringing their salary to £68,500.

Newly-qualified lawyers’ salaries will remain at £61,500 a year, while there are similar freezes for first and second year trainees, who are now paid £38,000 and £43,000 respectively.

The firm said the increases, which came into effect on 1 May, are designed to reflect increased seniority, with qualified solicitors also receiving between £12,000 and £21,000 in bonuses.

London Managing Partner David Bickerton, said: ‘The London office has been busy, our business has grown and our associates deserve to be well rewarded.’

The news comes after unions claimed lawyers' salaries continue to rise even though wages in other sectors are falling.