Trainee retention figures for September are starting to trickle out: and while overall the trend looks positive, it's still a mixed bag with some impressive results and some absolute stinkers.
Slaughter and May rules the roost with all 59 trainees offered a job on qualification. That 100% was mirrored by US firms in London, with both Sidley Austin and Kirkland & Ellis giving every member of their (tiny) trainee cohorts a job. Kudos to the firms and a small glass of Champagne to the deserving trainees.
Elsewhere the news was not so good, with 45 trainees at Pinsent Masons left fighting (occasionally literally) for 32 NQ jobs: so 29% of them will be leaving in September. And Allen & Overy has seen retention drop from previous highs to a rather underwhelming 72%. That figure was described by a spokesman as "disappointing, but it does not reflect either [A&O's] historic retention rate or expectations for the future".
The customary RollOnFriday pint of lukewarm Vimto goes to SNR Denton, which finally came clean this week and admitted that it has offered only 56% of its trainees a job. Perhaps no surprise, given that partners are fleeing the firm at an impressive rate. A spokesman for SNRD said that the "difficult decisions" were a "function of our drive for significantly stronger profitability across the firm in this financial year".
RollOnFriday scientists calculate that the overall retention figure is currently around 84%. By way of comparison, this time last year the average trainee retention figure was 77.5% (although that included a miraculous 133% for Winckworth Sherwood).
Here's a round up of the results thus far. And if you've got a tip off about retention at your shop, then you will let RollOnFriday know, won't you?
Tip Off ROF
Slaughter and May rules the roost with all 59 trainees offered a job on qualification. That 100% was mirrored by US firms in London, with both Sidley Austin and Kirkland & Ellis giving every member of their (tiny) trainee cohorts a job. Kudos to the firms and a small glass of Champagne to the deserving trainees.
Elsewhere the news was not so good, with 45 trainees at Pinsent Masons left fighting (occasionally literally) for 32 NQ jobs: so 29% of them will be leaving in September. And Allen & Overy has seen retention drop from previous highs to a rather underwhelming 72%. That figure was described by a spokesman as "disappointing, but it does not reflect either [A&O's] historic retention rate or expectations for the future".
The customary RollOnFriday pint of lukewarm Vimto goes to SNR Denton, which finally came clean this week and admitted that it has offered only 56% of its trainees a job. Perhaps no surprise, given that partners are fleeing the firm at an impressive rate. A spokesman for SNRD said that the "difficult decisions" were a "function of our drive for significantly stronger profitability across the firm in this financial year".
RollOnFriday scientists calculate that the overall retention figure is currently around 84%. By way of comparison, this time last year the average trainee retention figure was 77.5% (although that included a miraculous 133% for Winckworth Sherwood).
Here's a round up of the results thus far. And if you've got a tip off about retention at your shop, then you will let RollOnFriday know, won't you?
| Trainees |
NQ offers |
% |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Kirkland & Ellis |
6 |
6 |
100 |
| Sidley Austin |
7 |
7 |
100 |
| Slaughter and May |
59 |
59 |
100 |
| Macfarlanes |
24 |
22 |
92 |
| Shearman & Sterling |
12 | 11 |
91.5 |
| Herbert Smith |
55 |
44 |
80 |
| Barlow Lyde & Gilbert |
10 |
8 |
80 |
| Allen & Overy |
53 |
38 |
72 |
| Pinsent Masons |
45 |
32 |
71 |
| SNR Denton |
23 |
13 |
56 |