K&L Gates invites NQs to apply for paralegal positions
23 July 2010
K&L Gates has found an ingenious way to hike its profits in a downturn: by simply failing to keep on its newly-qualifyied lawyers, and getting them to reapply for paralegal positions at a fraction of the pay. Genius.

RollOnFriday has been told that only three of the seven qualifying trainees in the firm's London office are being kept on. Paralegals will be drafted in to cover other departments - and the unsuccessful four NQs have been invited to apply for these positions. For a whopping pay cut on even their trainee salaries.

It's not clear how that relates to the guff on the firm's grad rec website banging on about being "committed to developing your career". Wisely, no one at K&L Gates was available for comment.

K&L Gates' trainees yesterday

In happier news, Weil Gotshal has hiked its NQ salary back up to its 2008 rate of £90,000 after reducing it to a breadline £85,000 last year. A spokeswoman said that the firm was keeping on seven of its ten trainees, and that "the market appears to be picking up and we're keen properly to reward our excellent lawyers".