Allen & Overy's Indian ally, Trilegal, has increased associate starting salaries by almost 30% and has made up four new lawyers to partnership.

In a bid to capture more of the graduate market, the firm has raised associate starting annual salaries from around US$17,000 to as much as US$23,000.

The firm also raised its partnership numbers to 14 with the promotion of four lawyers - Delano Furtado, Ameya Khandge, Ajay Raghavan, and the firm's first female partner, Charandeep Kaur, who said that becoming a partner was "a great accomplishment given that everything here is based on meritocracy."

While most firms are reducing pay rates, Trilegal co-founder Anand Prasad said the moves were due to a number of factors. "[It's] partly attributable to a resilient market [in India] and partly to the firm's expanding practice and strong desire to be, sooner than later, the best paymaster in the Indian market," he said. “We are hoping to add a few more [lawyers] in the course of this year.”

Earlier this year in February, the firm regrouped its practice by acquiring four lawyers from Hemant Sahai Associates after losing three lawyers to a new firm, Phoenix Legal, last October. The firm was ranked fifth in India in ALB's Employer of Choice 2009.