The new-found mood of confidence among the US’ legal elite is set to face its first real test this month as New York’s largest law firms finalise their annual bonus and salary rates for associates.

But while the firms are, as usual, keeping their cards close to their chests, the current mood is that 2003 will not only reverse the two-year falls in bonus awards but could even see modest rises in associate pay bands that have been on hold since the boom year of 2000.