By Louis Goss New York City law firm Simpson Thacher has hiked salaries for its newly qualified (NQ) lawyers to heights of £170,000 a year in a sign the City pay war is showing no signs of slowing down. The white shoe law firm has given NQ lawyers in its London offices a £12,000 a year pay rise, after upping their salaries by eight per cent to £170,000 on 1 November. The Lexington Avenue law firm’s decision to hike pay for its NQ staff put it at the top end of the City pay scale, on par with its US headquartered rivals Kirkland & Ellis and Latham & Watkins, and just behind pay way frontrunner …