Slaughter and May has restarted its associate lockstep and overhauled its salary bands, as the firm narrows the pay gap between its one and three-year qualified lawyers.

The new pay structure, which is effective as of 1 May, will see the firm’s salaries now range from a newly-qualified (NQ) rate of £61,000 to £82,000 for solicitors with three years’ post-qualification experience (PQE).