All six trainees kept on
Global law firm Ropes & Gray has announced a perfect retention score of 100%.
The Boston-headquartered outfit confirmed that all six of its London trainees will remain at the firm upon qualification this September. The six-strong cohort will be qualifying into the firm’s antitrust, finance, litigation & enforcement, private equity, private investment funds and real estate practices.
Commenting on the news, Ropes & Gray trainee recruitment partner, Ruchit Patel, said:
“We are delighted to see this high calibre group of trainees qualify into six different departments at the firm. It is a great reflection of our breadth of growth in areas that our clients deem important. The retention rate is also a testament to the quality and thoughtfulness of our training programme.”
The 11-office outfit covers a broad range of industries including financial services, healthcare, life sciences and technology. Ropes & Gray launched its UK training programme in 2011 and take on around seven rookies each year.
Legal Cheek’s Firms Most List shows that Ropes & Gray’s newly-qualified (NQ) lawyers will start on a hefty base salary of £115,000, up from a year two trainee one of £50,000 — an uplift of £65,000 or 79%. The firm’s first-year trainees receive £46,000.
Ropes & Gray was a strong performer in our Trainee and Junior Lawyer Survey 2017–18. The firm scored A*s for quality of work, office and perks, and As for training and partner approachability. The results from the new Trainee and Junior Lawyer Survey 2018–19 will be released next month.
This news comes just days after fellow US players Kirkland & Ellis and White & Case posted autumn rates of 100% (10 out of 10) and 84% (21 out of 25) respectively.
Elsewhere, City player RPC confirmed a score of 82% (14 out of 17) and Stephenson Harwood revealed a result of 90% (nine out of ten). Hogan Lovells retained 96% (27 out of 28) of its rookies, while Taylor Wessing recorded a rate of 91% (21 out of 23). Burges Salmon and Shearman & Sterling reported outcomes of 96% (26 out of 27) and 85% (11 out of 13) respectively.