A solid pattern of trainee retention scores is illustrating firms' confidence in the legal services market, with Bird & Bird achieving an excellent result, and Allen & Overy has matched Magic Circle competitor Freshfields.

Two Birds confirmed to RollOnFriday that it will be employing 14 of its 16-strong intake (88%), having made offers to 15. The score places the firm in the top half of a field in which four firms have so far managed 100%. Bird & Bird, whose lawyers voted it second in the Firm of the Year 2014 survey, also performed strongly last year, when it retained 15 out of 16 trainees.

    A happy bird yesterday

Meanwhile, Allen & Overy was the last of the Magic Circle to announce its figures. From an intake of 50, 46 applied for jobs, 43 received offers and 41 will join as NQs next month. The 82% rate mirrors Freshfields' and means that, of the five MC firms, Slaughters sits at the top with a stonking 97% retention rate, Linklaters follows with 92% and Clifford Chance brings up the rear with 75%.

Hoglove also released its stats. The firm is keeping on 27 out of 35 trainees this September, a so-so 77% rate which includes two NQs on fixed term contracts. It puts the firm in the bottom half of the table, but is not unusual for HogLove: rates for its previous four qualifying intakes have all been between 73% and 78%.

More surprisingly, Norton Rose Fulbright also posted 77%. The firm is retaining 17 out of 22 NQs, which is well down on the 92% scores it produced last Spring and last September.



Elsewhere, DWF managed a solid 81% rate for its largest intake so far. It is retaining 39 of 45 qualifying trainees.The rapidly-swelling firm has a pretty good record at holding onto its NQs. 2013 aside (a bit of a blip with a 70% rate), the firm's retention rates have landed between 80% and 100% for over a decade.

If you know your firm's retention rates, let RollOnFriday know.
 
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Comments

Anonymous 29 August 14 10:29

any data on ethnicity to over-lay this graph? Who was the firm last year that decided not to employ anyone wasn't magnolia.