RollOnFriday can exclusively reveal that Freshfields has frozen salaries for junior laywers.

The firm has completed its annual salary review and emailed staff to say that pay is to remain at its current levels.

The news is not a complete surprise. After increasing pay last year, Freshfields has been top of the Magic Circle salary tree for a year. Even with a freeze in 2015, it mostly still is.

"Eh, at least I'm not on A&O money"

The table of salaries for Magic Circle associates now looks like this:

£k	State of pay	NQ	1PQE	2PQE	3PQE	Total post-qualification earning over four years*
A&O	Yet to announce	66.5	72.5	82.5	93.5	315
Clifford Chance	Raised	70	75.5	88	98.5	332
Freshfields	Froze	67.5	77.5	87.5	100	333
Linklaters	Yet to announce	68.5	74	85.6	95.5	324
Slaughters	Raised	70	75.5	87	96.5	329

Even taking into account the recent wage hikes at Slaughter and May and Clifford Chance, Freshfields 1PQEs and 3PQEs remain the most well-paid of the Magic Circle,  Linklaters and Allen & Overy could change that if they raise pay, but unless one of them Goes Yankee,  Freshfields associates are unlikely to start pinging out their CVs, setting fire to bins or hurling London Managing Partner Julian Long out of windows.

However the freeze does mean that Freshfields NQs are now paid the least in the Magic Circle except for their peers at A&O.

Trainee salary has been hiked up slightly, with first years now on £41,000 (was £40,500) and second years now on £46,000.

As for A&O, it is going to have to do something extraordinary to leapfrog the rest of the gang. WILL IT? Probably not worth holding your breath.