4 May 2011 | By Joanne Harris

Gide Loyrette Nouel has announced six promotions to the role of local partner, a position equivalent to salaried partner, across four of its international offices.

Two of the new local partners are based in London, one in Beijing, one in Budapest and two in Gide’s Turkish associated firm.

In London, tax lawyer David Klass and litigator Adam Rooney become local partners. They are joined in Budapest by István Kővári, a former partner at CMS Cameron McKenna who joined the association in early 2010.

Zheng Yu becomes a local partner at Gide’s Beijing office. Zheng focuses on both M&A and contentious matters.

In Istanbul, banking and finance department head Haluk Bilgiç joins the local partnership alongside IP and IT head Esra Dündar-Loiseau. Dündar-Loiseau, who holds dual Turkish and French citizenship, is the only woman to be made up in this round of promotions.

London managing partner Colin Mercer said the promotions in the City reflected the office’s ongoing efforts to diversify away from its origins as a finance boutique. Mercer said litigation in particular had grown to provide a quarter of the office’s revenue in the past five years. Gide’s London office now has seven partners.

Gide appointed two partners, in Paris and Moscow, in its full partnership promotions round in January (5 January, 2011).

Senior partner Pierre Raoul-Duval said the latest round of promotions testified to Gide’s investment in its international network.

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Slaughters pushes associate salaries up 2 per cent

5 May 2011 | By Gavriel Hollander

Slaughter and May has increased associate salaries by an average of 2 per cent following its bi-annual pay review.

Salaries for trainees and newly qualified (NQ) solicitors at the City powerhouse will remain the same, while there have been small pay hikes for associates with one to four years’ post-qualification experience (PQE).

One-year PQEs will see their pay packets increase from £68,000 to £69,000, while two-year PQEs have been offered a slightly bigger increase with salaries going up from £74,000 to £76,000. Three-year PQEs will now be paid £86,000, up from £84,500, and four-year PQEs will see earnings rise from £93,000 to £94,500.

Slight increases have also been made to salaries beyond the four-year PQE level, although associates at that stage are paid within wider bands.

Trainee salaries will remain at £38,000 for first year and £43,000 for second year trainees. NQs will continue to earn £61,500.

Slaughters executive partner Graham White said: “We think we have struck the right balance by adjusting the scales to ensure that they compare favourably with current market rates and ensuring that salaries progress in line with experience and responsibility.”

The salary increases are broadly in line with those announced last year. Slaughters reviewed its salaries in May 2010 following a one-year pay freeze during which associates did not progress through the lockstep. At the same time, NQ salaries fell from £66,000 to £61,000.

The firm will review its pay again, including for NQs and trainees, in November.

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Alasdair Steele, corporate partner, Nabarro

Takeover Code tweaks do not augur an M&A revolution