Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, the last Magic Circle firm to post its trainee retention rate this spring, posted a reduced figure, keeping on 82% of trainees this spring. The firm offered 33 of 38, or 87% of its trainees places.
The rate is slightly worse than last year’s spring figure of 85%, after the firm kept on 41 of 48 trainees, after offering 91% of the trainees places.
By keeping 31 out of 38 trainees, the firm has performed better than Magic Circle peer Clifford Chance, which posted a rate of 80%. Freshfields once again did not disclose in which offices and practice areas the trainees would be qualifying.
However Freshfields performed poorly in comparison with Linklaters which posted an 83% rate and Allen & Overy (A&O) which kept on 39 of 43 or 91% of trainees. Both (A&O) and Linklaters kept on fewer trainees this year than spring prior.
Slaughter and May has had the best retention rate of the Magic Circle this time around, with a rate of 91%, when 38 of the firm’s 40 qualifying trainees accepted newly-qualified positions. The intake was an improvement on Slaughter and May’s autumn 2015 figure of 33 of 37 trainees, and ahead of its 2015 spring intake when 88% of a 42 strong cohort accepted offers.
Earlier this week, Berwin Leighton Paisner posted a 70% retention rate for March. With a markedly smaller trainee cohort of 20, 14 of the 16 positions that the firm offered were accepted. The new trainee intake will be spread across the firm’s finance, real estate, corporate, litigation and corporate risk practices.
Our sister website The Lex 100 has created a retention rate table which will be updated as more figures are announced.
victoria.young@legalease.co.uk