image: Photodisc Green
Ince & Co. has become the latest U.K. firm to opt out of increasing its associate pay bands for the year ahead.
Associates at Ince will continue to move through the salary bands as normal during the 2011-12 financial year, but will see no increase in pay levels set out by the firm in 2010.
Newly-qualified lawyers will continue to earn £58,000, while those with one year's post-qualification experience (PQE) will take home £64,960.
Associates with two and three years' PQE will receive £69,020 and £76,125 respectively, with pay for four-year PQE lawyers remaining at £84,245.
In a statement, the firm commented: "The salary bands for our trainees and one to four years' PQE lawyers are based on our assessment of the market and have not changed from last year.
"We believe this balances the need to provide a value-for-money service to clients with the need to attract and retain the best lawyers."
The news follows recent decisions by firms including Herbert Smith, Linklaters and Allen & Overy (A&O) to freeze their junior pay bands for 2011-12, with A&O attributing the decision to "flat trading conditions in the UK market."
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Slaughter and May are among the few U.K. firms to have announced marginal associate pay rises, with both firms increasing the levels of their salary bands by around 2 percent to 3 percent, while U.S. firm Shearman & Sterling recently confirmed that it was increasing pay levels in the firm's three-tier merit-based system by as much as 15 percent.
