Market Update - Winter 2025
Market Update - Winter 2025
Anthony Matthews
15 December 2025
As well as looking forward to Christmas, December is a month for reflections on the year that was. Across international recruitment, we’ve been on a bit of a rollercoaster with geo-political and economic factors pulling the market in different directions. However, this rollercoaster has been more Luna Park than Six Flags with the market being warmer than before but certainly not scolding hot.
The mood from September onwards has been more positive and we’ve seen a churn of roles in London, Dublin and New York as we move towards 2026. Recent high-profile transactions involving Netflix, Paramount & Warner Bros in the US are showing that there is still a market for mega-mergers and anyone who has spoken with me will know that I always say corporate leads the market. If corporate is busy, recruitment across other areas will become busy.
London continues to be the most popular destination for common law qualified lawyers however, New York continues to get busier in terms of international moves. With the new $100,000 restrictions coming in on the H-1B, the E-3 Visa which is available to Australian nationals or the TN Visa for Canadians becomes a more attractive and cost-effective option for firms who are looking to hire from overseas.
Texas and the west coast firms remain a little quieter in their overseas hiring plans however, these locations often follow New York so we’d expect an uptick in international recruitment in these locations in 2026.
US Bonuses
Staying in the US, we’ve seen another year end with associates collecting bumper bonuses. The standard ‘Cravath scale’ year-end bonus and special bonus can be found below (USD):
- 2025: $15,000 / $6,000
- 2024: $20,000 / $6,000
- 2023: $30,000 / $10,000
- 2022: $57,500 / $15,000
- 2021: $75,000 / $20,000
- 2020: $90,000 / $25,000
- 2019: $105,000 / $25,000
Although these bonuses aren’t too unusual in Manhattan, we have seen that a number of US firms in London have been matching these, meaning that some associates with US firms are pocketing £100,000+ more than their magic circle counterparts. Another interesting note is that although Allen & Overy merged with Shearman & Sterling, the A&O Shearman US bonus has been reserved for US associates only. Again, it reminds potential applicants that if they want the US style bonus in London, they need to work for a US firm in London.
US-UK Mergers
In a trend that Keir Starmer can only dream of, the UK and US legal markets are becoming more and more intertwined with the announcement of two more trans-Atlantic mergers in the last quarter.
The largest of these has been the merger of Ashurst & US firm, Perkins Coie (pronounced Cooey) - https://www.ashurst.com/en/who-we-are/our-news-work-market-recognition/perkins-coie-and-ashurst-announce-intent-to-combine-into-a-top-20-global-law-firm/
It has been reported that Ashurst has long been looking for a potential merger on the other side of the Atlantic and Perkins Coie, with a similar revenue and similar size, alongside very little overlap in locations seems to make sense. As mentioned above, Ashurst lawyers in London who may be expecting a big jump in their salary, may have to wait some time and it’s likely that the merger will look pretty similar to Herbert Smith Freeehill’s recent tie up with Kramer in London.
Last week, it was also announced that Taylor Wessing is to tie up with Chicago based, Winston & Strawn in what is a pretty similar move to Ashurst. W&S are best known for their disputes work in the US and it’ll be interesting to see how Taylor Wessing incorporate their Californian offering with this.
With the recent mergers, there has been plenty of work for other law firms who are acting as lawyers for the lawyers although some firms have represented themselves. An interesting article exploring this can be found at this link - https://fnlondon.cmail19.com/t/j-e-ydydfld-hhltlljriy-r/
What threatened to be a bigger story than the trans-Atlantic mergers, was the controversial pre-budget announcement that the tax changes to limited liability partnerships (LLPs) were due to change. Most partners in London fall into this category creating panic that partners would be expecting hefty tax bills! Panicked lobbying, backing down and other tax rises, put this on the backburner - https://www.internationaltaxreview.com/article/2fj3mjvaltjuy4vgvfw8y/direct-tax/a-taxing-week-uk-llp-tax-the-final-nail-in-the-partnership-coffin
Overseas Recruitment to London
Steady is probably the best word to use for the last quarter in terms of international recruitment to London. The market is starting to get a little warmer and with that, firms are more likely to look at overseas lawyers. However, most firms still ideally look to hire locally qualified lawyers in the first instance before looking overseas. The major exceptions to this are in corporate, finance and funds and with the magic circle and some of the US firms.
Overseas Recruitment to Dublin
Dublin has remained an attractive alternative to London, especially for Antipodean lawyers and we’ve also seen an increase in Canadian lawyers making the move to Ireland as well. I was recently in Dublin where I met with Irish, South Africa and Antipodean qualified lawyers looking to make the jump to London. Dublin can be an easier launching pad for London than New Zealand, Australia and South Africa and associates can still access high-quality, international work.
Mr International
I’ve been lucky enough to travel around the world in 2025. I’ve met with lawyers in: Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Singapore, Brussels, Brisbane, Auckland, Sydney, Perth, Melbourne (where I even saw Mr International in concert), Leeds & Manchester.
Over 2026, I’ll be heading overseas again so if you are located in a common law jurisdiction and would like to discuss options in London, Dublin, New York or elsewhere, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
To all our clients, candidates and anyone else who has stumbled upon this article, have a peaceful and merry Christmas and we’ll see you all in 2026!
Anthony P Matthews
As well as looking forward to Christmas, December is a month for reflections on the year that was. Across international recruitment, we’ve been on a bit of a rollercoaster with geo-political and economic factors pulling the market in different directions. However, this rollercoaster has been more Luna Park than Six Flags with the market being warmer than before but certainly not scolding hot.
The mood from September onwards has been more positive and we’ve seen a churn of roles in London, Dublin and New York as we move towards 2026. Recent high-profile transactions involving Netflix, Paramount & Warner Bros in the US are showing that there is still a market for mega-mergers and anyone who has spoken with me will know that I always say corporate leads the market. If corporate is busy, recruitment across other areas will become busy.
London continues to be the most popular destination for common law qualified lawyers however, New York continues to get busier in terms of international moves. With the new $100,000 restrictions coming in on the H-1B, the E-3 Visa which is available to Australian nationals or the TN Visa for Canadians becomes a more attractive and cost-effective option for firms who are looking to hire from overseas.
Texas and the west coast firms remain a little quieter in their overseas hiring plans however, these locations often follow New York so we’d expect an uptick in international recruitment in these locations in 2026.
US Bonuses
Staying in the US, we’ve seen another year end with associates collecting bumper bonuses. The standard ‘Cravath scale’ year-end bonus and special bonus can be found below (USD):
- 2025: $15,000 / $6,000
- 2024: $20,000 / $6,000
- 2023: $30,000 / $10,000
- 2022: $57,500 / $15,000
- 2021: $75,000 / $20,000
- 2020: $90,000 / $25,000
- 2019: $105,000 / $25,000
Although these bonuses aren’t too unusual in Manhattan, we have seen that a number of US firms in London have been matching these, meaning that some associates with US firms are pocketing £100,000+ more than their magic circle counterparts. Another interesting note is that although Allen & Overy merged with Shearman & Sterling, the A&O Shearman US bonus has been reserved for US associates only. Again, it reminds potential applicants that if they want the US style bonus in London, they need to work for a US firm in London.
US-UK Mergers
In a trend that Keir Starmer can only dream of, the UK and US legal markets are becoming more and more intertwined with the announcement of two more trans-Atlantic mergers in the last quarter.
The largest of these has been the merger of Ashurst & US firm, Perkins Coie (pronounced Cooey) - https://www.ashurst.com/en/who-we-are/our-news-work-market-recognition/perkins-coie-and-ashurst-announce-intent-to-combine-into-a-top-20-global-law-firm/
It has been reported that Ashurst has long been looking for a potential merger on the other side of the Atlantic and Perkins Coie, with a similar revenue and similar size, alongside very little overlap in locations seems to make sense. As mentioned above, Ashurst lawyers in London who may be expecting a big jump in their salary, may have to wait some time and it’s likely that the merger will look pretty similar to Herbert Smith Freeehill’s recent tie up with Kramer in London.
Last week, it was also announced that Taylor Wessing is to tie up with Chicago based, Winston & Strawn in what is a pretty similar move to Ashurst. W&S are best known for their disputes work in the US and it’ll be interesting to see how Taylor Wessing incorporate their Californian offering with this.
With the recent mergers, there has been plenty of work for other law firms who are acting as lawyers for the lawyers although some firms have represented themselves. An interesting article exploring this can be found at this link - https://fnlondon.cmail19.com/t/j-e-ydydfld-hhltlljriy-r/
What threatened to be a bigger story than the trans-Atlantic mergers, was the controversial pre-budget announcement that the tax changes to limited liability partnerships (LLPs) were due to change. Most partners in London fall into this category creating panic that partners would be expecting hefty tax bills! Panicked lobbying, backing down and other tax rises, put this on the backburner - https://www.internationaltaxreview.com/article/2fj3mjvaltjuy4vgvfw8y/direct-tax/a-taxing-week-uk-llp-tax-the-final-nail-in-the-partnership-coffin
Overseas Recruitment to London
Steady is probably the best word to use for the last quarter in terms of international recruitment to London. The market is starting to get a little warmer and with that, firms are more likely to look at overseas lawyers. However, most firms still ideally look to hire locally qualified lawyers in the first instance before looking overseas. The major exceptions to this are in corporate, finance and funds and with the magic circle and some of the US firms.
Overseas Recruitment to Dublin
Dublin has remained an attractive alternative to London, especially for Antipodean lawyers and we’ve also seen an increase in Canadian lawyers making the move to Ireland as well. I was recently in Dublin where I met with Irish, South Africa and Antipodean qualified lawyers looking to make the jump to London. Dublin can be an easier launching pad for London than New Zealand, Australia and South Africa and associates can still access high-quality, international work.
Mr International
I’ve been lucky enough to travel around the world in 2025. I’ve met with lawyers in: Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Singapore, Brussels, Brisbane, Auckland, Sydney, Perth, Melbourne (where I even saw Mr International in concert), Leeds & Manchester.
Over 2026, I’ll be heading overseas again so if you are located in a common law jurisdiction and would like to discuss options in London, Dublin, New York or elsewhere, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
To all our clients, candidates and anyone else who has stumbled upon this article, have a peaceful and merry Christmas and we’ll see you all in 2026!
Anthony P Matthews