February saw a flurry of trainee retention rates announced, with the Magic Circle and top-tier firms posting higher rates than in 2014, though taken from smaller pools of young lawyers.
Allen & Overy (A&O) kept on the highest proportion of trainees among Magic Circle firms, with 93% (or 43 out of 46) newly-qualified lawyers being kept on – an increase from the 84% posted last year. Peer firms Clifford Chance and Linklaters were close behind, both unveiling retention rates of 91%, with 41 and 49 trainees staying on respectively. Figures were slightly lower at Slaughter and May, which kept on 37 newly-qualified lawyers (NQs) out of 42, or a rate of 88%, while Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer had the lowest rate of 85%, with 41 staying on from a cohort of 48.
‘We don’t have a target for retention rates,’ said David Campbell, banking partner and training principal at A&O. ‘There are a few factors behind the recent high retention rates. The standard of our trainees is extremely high and the firm is busy, so partners are confident about recruiting NQs for the medium to long term. We’ve also actively managed our graduate recruitment so the number of trainees qualifying in each intake is better aligned to the number of jobs we expect to be available when they qualify.’
Of all the Magic Circle firms, Linklaters kept on the most trainees in absolute terms, with 49 lawyers compared to A&O’s 43. Linklaters corporate and trainee development partner Nick Rumsby commented: ‘There is a wider trend in the market of increased retention rates, which probably reflects more confidence in the market and business levels across the City. We always try to take a medium-term view of our likely business needs, and take that into account in our recruitment numbers and retention rates, which is why our rates have consistently been so high.’
Outside the Magic Circle, Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) and Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) also revealed retention rates in February. HSF kept on 39 of its 42 trainees as NQs, giving it a retention rate of 93%, while NRF unveiled a lower rate of just 81% of trainees qualifying, or 21 out of 26 in total. Other firms to achieve rates above 80% include: Osborne Clarke, White & Case, Trowers & Hamlins, Reed Smith and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.
One notable exception was Berwin Leighton Paisner, which had just 61% of trainees qualify out of the spring 2015 cohort. The firm saw three trainees drop out of its 23-strong intake. Of the 20 remaining, 14 accepted positions.
kathryn.mccann@legalease.co.uk