Email your news and story ideas to: [email protected]
Boost for newly-qualified retention at English firms
Retention rates for newly qualified solicitors at a cross-section of leading English law firms are increasing, but graduate vacancies are waning, providing a mixed outlook for new lawyers.
City firms interviewed say the contract enables trainees to develop legal judgement working with senior lawyers
Sign up for our free daily newsletter
YOUR PRIVACY - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY DATA PROTECTION STATEMENT
Below we explain how we will communicate with you. We set out how we use your data in our Privacy Policy.
Global City Media, and its associated brands will use the lawful basis of legitimate interests to use
the
contact details you have supplied to contact you regarding our publications, events, training,
reader
research, and other relevant information. We will always give you the option to opt out of our
marketing.
By clicking submit, you confirm that you understand and accept the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy
According to research by The Lawyer newspaper, both leading private client firm Farrer & Co, and the local office of Cleveland-based Jones Day revealed retention rates of 100 per cent, increasing from 90 per cent and 80 per cent respectively this time last year.
Magic circle
The Anglo-US firm SNR Denton also announced an improvement, having retained 83 per cent of newly qualifieds, as opposed to 60 per cent in March 2012 and 52 per cent in September 2011.
As yet, the only magic circle firm to reveal retention figures is Slaughter and May, which reported 87.5 per cent, a slight drop from the 90 per cent retained in March. However, this figure is slightly skewed by the two trainees who resigned before offers were made.
Drop expected
The newspaper reports that those relatively optimistic figures contrast with statistics released in the recent Association of Graduate Recruiters bi-annual survey relating to newly-qualified vacancies in the English legal sector. The survey revealed that there is an average of 44.5 applications for each vacancy, and that the number of graduate vacancies on offer is expected to decrease by 16.5 per cent this year.
Alexander Brown, graduate recruitment partner at global law firm Simmons & Simmons suggested that this should not provoke significant concern: ‘I can see vacancies slimming a bit but nothing dramatic.’
