Clifford Chance has retained 80% of its March trainees, with 43 out of a cohort of 54 accepting positions at the Magic Circle firm. The rate comes as rivals Allen & Overy and Linklaters also posted lower retention rates than the year prior.
The figures for Clifford Chance are worse than the firm’s spring 2015 retention rate of 91% when 41 offers made to a 45-strong cohort were accepted. The rate is also the worst of the Magic Circle this spring so far, after all bar Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have released their rates.
At Allen & Overy, 39 of the firm’s 43 trainee intake have accepted roles – a retention rate of 91%. All offers that were made to trainees by the firm were accepted. This is also lower than the spring before when 43 of 46 or 93% were kept on.
With 45 of 49 offers accepted, Linklaters secured an 83% retention rate of its March trainees, after keeping on 91% of a larger 54-strong cohort in February last year.
Meanwhile back in January this year, Slaughter and May posted a retention rate of 95%, 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.
Elsewhere, Berwin Leighton Paisner has 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.
madeleline.farman@legalease.co.uk
