The one rookie who left the firm has joined a finance company
The London office of international titan Baker McKenzie has chalked up an impressive autumn retention score of 94%.
Of the 16 newbie lawyers who qualified this month, Bakers has finally confirmed that all but one has opted to stick around. The US-founded outfit, which dishes out around 33 training contracts each year, made offers to all its newly qualified (NQ) lawyers. The one rookie who declined has left to join a finance company, according to the firm.
Thirteen NQs will be based in Bakers’ London office, while one, who wanted to return home to Northern Ireland, will join its Belfast outpost. The remaining new associate will move to the firm’s Brussels office after falling in love with the city during his/her secondment.
Of its London lot, four join corporate, two are heading to disputes, two to tax, and two to EU, competition and trade. Employment, banking and IT/commercial will gain an NQ each.
Among Bakers’ fresh faced associates are two former King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) trainees. Following the collapse of KWM’s UK, European and Middle East (EUME) arm in January, a host of City firms stepped in to help its 60 or so stranded trainees in a rescue mission first revealed by Legal Cheek.
Bakers is one of the top three biggest law firms in the world by revenue, and its London NQs will start on a salary of £72,000. This puts them on a pay par with their counterparts at Ashurst, and £500 better of than those starting lawyer life over at Mayer Brown. Bakers trainees currently earn £45,000 in year one, rising to £49,000 in year two.
“I’m very pleased that we have such a high retention rate this year and have been able to make offers not just in London, but also in Brussels and Belfast,” said Bakers’ training principal, Arron Slocombe. He continued:
We our committed to attracting the best and brightest talent and offer the finest training and opportunities, while also maintaining our culture of being a great place to work.
Today’s 94% score means that Bakers has trumped its solid 2016 autumn performance. On that occasion, the firm — which recently launched a training contact offering in Belfast — kept hold of 14 of its 16 NQs or 88%.
Trainee autumn retention 2017
| Firm | Score | Breakdown |
| Burges Salmon | 100% | 28/28 |
| Watson Farley & Williams | 100% | 15/15 |
| Fieldfisher | 100% | 13/13 |
| Blake Morgan | 100% | 9/9 |
| Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton | 100% | 9/9 |
| Forsters | 100% | 8/8 |
| Sullivan & Cromwell | 100% | 4/4 |
| Latham & Watkins | 95% | 21/22 |
| Ashurst | 95% | 19/20 |
| Baker McKenzie | 94% | 15/16 |
| Macfarlanes | 92% | 23/25 (two on FTC*) |
| Slaughter and May | 91% | 29/32 |
| Travers Smith | 90% | 18/20 |
| Ince & Co | 90% | 9/10 |
| Stephenson Harwood | 90% | 9/10 |
| Blake Morgan | 89% | 8/9 |
| Reed Smith | 86% | 12/14 |
| Allen & Overy | 85% | 40/47 |
| Linklaters | 84% | 47/56 |
| Gowling WLG | 84% | 21/25 |
| Bird & Bird | 83% | 15/18 |
| White & Case | 83% | 15/18 |
| Covington & Burling | 83% | 5/6 |
| Osborne Clarke | 82% | 14/17 |
| RPC | 82% | 14/17 |
| Clifford Chance | 81% | 42/52 |
| Addleshaw Goddard | 81% | 38/47 |
| Bond Dickinson | 81% | 22/27 |
| Eversheds Sutherland | 80% | 44/55 |
| Herbert Smith Freehills | 80% | 28/35 |
| Hogan Lovells | 80% | 24/30 |
| HFW | 80% | 8/10 |
| Clyde & Co | 79% | 34/43 (one on FTC) |
| Mills & Reeve | 79% | 15/19 (one on FTC) |
| DLA Piper | 78% | 75/96 |
| Simmons & Simmons | 78% | 21/27 |
| Shearman & Sterling | 75% | 12/16 |
| Pinsent Masons | 74% | 67/91 |
| Mayer Brown | 73% | 8/11 |
| Withers | 73% | 8/11 |
| Charles Russell Speechlys | 71% | 17/24 |
| Trowers & Hamlins | 70% | 7/10 |
| Berwin Leighton Paisner | 67% | 16/24 |
| Browne Jacobson | 67% | 6/9 |
| DWF | 66% | 33/50 |
| Freshfields | 66% | 27/41 |
| Squire Patton Boggs | 65% | Not disclosed |
| Dentons | 64% | 18/28 |
| Mishcon de Reya | 64% | 9/14 |
| Norton Rose Fulbright | 62% | 16/26 (two on FTC) |
| Taylor Wessing | 62% | 16/26 |
| Kirkland & Ellis | 56% | 5/9 |
| Weil Gotshal | 50% | 5/10 |
| Stewarts Law | 25% | 1/4 |
*Fixed term contract
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