Berwin Leighton Paisner has been caught manipulating its trainee retention figures for this spring’s intake, with its actual figure dropping from 70% to 61%.
Having been widely reported in the legal press, the firm announced last week how many of their spring 2015 qualifiers they would retain, saying offers were made to 15 in its intake of ’20 final-seat trainees’, of which 14 accepted, giving the firm a retention rate of 70%.
However, RollonFriday reported today that BLP had in fact 23 final seat trainees, three of whom decided to leave on qualification, meaning the true figure of this year’s spring retention rate is a much-lower 61%, constituting a stark drop from the 89% it recorded in spring 2014.
When asked to confirm the stats, a spokesperson said: ‘Three trainees dropped out from the process therefore we could not offer them contracts.’
A round-up of the 2015 retention rates revealed thus far:
- Addleshaw Goddard: 2 out of 4 (50%)
- Allen & Overy: 43 out of 46 (93%)
- BLP: 14 out of 23 (61%)
- Clifford Chance: 41 out of 45 (91%)
- Freshfields: 41 out of 48 (85%)
- Herbert Smith Freehills: 39 out of 42 (93%)
- Linklaters: 49 out of 54 (91%)
- Mayer Brown: 3 out of 5 (60%)
- Orrick: 4 out of 4 (100%)
- Osborne Clarke: 8 out of 9 (89%)
- Reed Smith: 12 out of 13 (92%)
- Slaughter and May: 37 out of 42 (88%)
- Trowers & Hamlins: 9 out of 11 (82%)
- White & Case: 13 out of 13 (100%)
sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk