Clifford Chance and Linklaters post strong trainee retention figures
15 February 2013
As the final two Magic Circle firms release their trainee retention figures, it's good news for the trainees of
Linklaters and
Clifford Chance which both posted retention rates of over 80%.
Clifford Chance, which caused such a
stir amongst its trainees when it dilly-dallied over announcing job offers, has now confirmed that it will be keeping on 54 of its 66 trainees (82%). This represents an increase on last year's results, when the firm gave NQ jobs to 76% of it trainees in March and 77% in September. And CC is the only Magic Circle firm to maintain an upward trajectory in trainee retention over the last year.
It's happy news too at Linklaters, which will be keeping on 49 of its 59
qualifying trainees, giving the firm a retention rate of 83%. This
figure is slightly down on the same period last year, when the firm kept on 86% (49 of 57),
but it's up on last September's 78% rate.
While retention figures amongst the Magic Circle are, overall, slightly down on this time last year, they are still, with the notable exception of
Allen & Overy, recording retention rates of over 80%. And with many of the Magic Circle firms
reducing trainee intakes, they'll presumably be hoping to nudge retention back up to 2011 levels again.
Firm
|
March 2011
retention
|
September 2011
retention
|
March 2012
retention
|
September 2012
retention
|
March 2013
retention
|
Allen & Overy
|
84%
|
72% |
89% |
79% |
70% |
Clifford Chance
|
91% |
83% |
76% |
77% |
82% |
Freshfields
|
89% |
96% |
85% |
89% |
85% |
Linklaters
|
82% |
93% |
86% |
78% |
83% |
Slaughter and May
|
96% |
100% |
90% |
87.5% |
86% |
Average
|
88.4% |
88.8% |
85.2% |
82.1% |
81.2% |