Macfarlanes, Ince & Co and Linklaters have all announced great Autumn retention rates, while Stewarts Law has posted the worst results of any firm so far.

Macfarlanes has offered permanent positions to 23 of the 25 trainees (a retention rate of 92%), with the other two trainees offered fixed term contracts. To make the fuzzy feeling even better, the trainees will qualify on a decent £75k.

It has been a good run for the silver circle firm having posted a perfect 100% retention score in spring this year, and achieved 85% retention last autumn. Seán Lavin, Head of Graduate Recruitment at Macfarlanes told RollOnFriday "We recruit trainees of the highest quality and we do so with a view to offering them long-term careers with the firm. We try very hard to ensure that we can offer a role to each trainee on qualification in order to keep that talent within the firm."

Ince & Co is also a happy ship as 90% of its trainees will qualify this Autumn. The result is pretty much on a par with last year when the firm posted a result of 89% . The shipping firm offered jobs to all of its ten trainees, with just one trainee declining. The NQs will start on £63,250. Two of the trainees will be sunning themselves in celebration as they qualify abroad: one in Monaco and one in Dubai.

Andrew Jameson, Ince & Co's Director of HR said “The success of our graduate trainee programme is testament to the open and inclusive culture at the firm. Trainees are encouraged to make a real contribution and get involved in all aspects of our practice areas with the support of our experienced partners and solicitors.”

Linklaters has announced strong results as it is retaining 84% of its trainees this Autumn. The firm offered jobs to 53 of the 56 trainees in the cohort, with 47 of them accepting. The magic circle firm also posted a similar score earlier this year, as it held on to 86% of its trainees in the spring.



At the other end of the scale, Taylor Wessing posted less than stellar retention results as just 16 trainees out of a cohort of 26 will qualify with the firm; a score of 62%. It's a drop from last year's result of 77%. The NQs will start on a salary of £65,000. Kirstie McGuigan, head of the firm's UK graduate recruitment committee said "It's disappointing our retention rate is down on last year, but that's a product of a number of factors and doesn't paint the full picture". She added "to be recognised with multiple awards for the strength of our graduate recruitment and development programme is testament to the quality of the training we give, and we hope this will be reflected with an uplift in retention rates next year ".

McGuigan also said  "in the last year we have strengthened our graduate programme with the introduction of game based video assessments to enhance the candidate experience and we've seen success with 30% of applications for our summer vacation from Aspiring Solicitors". But even if they don't get a job at least they'll have memories of playing a law-based space invaders game during the assessment process.

  Impress graduate recruitment: Level One complete. 
 

At the bottom of the pile Stewarts Law has posted a dire retention rate of 25%. The firm will hold on to just one of its four trainees this autumn, which is the poorest result of any firm so far. A firm spokeswoman confirmed the retention rate but declined to provide a comment.
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Comments

Anonymous 18 August 17 11:18

I don't work for Stewarts and don't know the firm at all but can't help wondering whether its fair to compare them with the big firms? They've let less go that Taylor Wessing, according to your article, yet are still being pilloried on the stats. Do we need an acknowledged first / second division breakdown here?

Anonymous 18 August 17 12:14

Like anon at 10:18, it seems a little bit odd to focus so heavily on percentages. There are two issues - the minute one trainee is not kept on of a 4 trainee intake, you're down to 75% retention rate and compared to firms that would have to shed 10-15 trainees in order to reach that percentage. Also, these firms are typically smaller, and accommodating trainees desires on qualification (i.e. a job in their preferred department) is often a greater challenge. I distinction based on size of firm/intake would make sense.

Anonymous 18 August 17 12:46

Conversely they only need to retain 3 trainees to post an impressive 75% rate, so it seems completely fair.

Anonymous 19 August 17 18:28

I think a 25% retention rate is pretty dire, no matter how one attempts to massage the figures. UK law firms seem to be slipping into the disposable culture of that adopted by their US counterparts, which is a very sad state of affairs for the UK legal market.

Anonymous 19 August 17 23:40

Anon at 17.28 - Lets give Stewarts Law some credit. Perhaps the remaining 75% didn't want to stay on at the firm, rather than the firm didn't offer them a position? We don't know the full circumstances.

Anonymous 20 August 17 01:28

Even still, it hardly speaks volumes about the firm. If a firm holds itself out to be a market leader and wants to be recognised alongside the "big boys", then it can't reasonably expect to pick and choose which parts of the market they lead and not be judged in comparison to its peers. A percentage comparison is therefore fair.

Anonymous 21 August 17 12:16

A percentage comparison is certainly fair.

However, one would expect the percentage retention of smaller firms to fluctuate more extensively than the percentage retention of larger firms.

Graduates should average retention rates over a number of years to get an accurate picture.

Anonymous 23 August 17 16:41

Quite a few missing here: Hogan Lovells, Clifford Chance, Norton Rose Fulbright, BLP and swampy Jones Day.