The first evidence of recovery in the US’s battered technology legal sector emerged this month as Boston firm Fish & Richardson announced it would offer up to $75,000 (£53,190) as a signing-on bonus to associates in its core IP practice.

The figure is more than three times the joining bonus that the firm normally pays for laterally hired associates, which is around $20,000 (£14,000), and is thought to be a record in the US.