Firm also announces switch to single autumn intake in move that doesn’t affect TC numbers
City law firm Macfarlanes has retained six out of its seven spring qualifying trainees on permanent contracts, resulting in a retention rate of 86%.
This marks a slight decrease on the firm’s autumn figure of 96% (25 trainees), although it’s worth noting that the qualifying cohort was significantly larger at 26.
Macfarlanes has also announced that it will no longer split its trainee intake across autumn and spring cohorts, instead opting to have one, larger, intake in the autumn. This, the firm confirmed, will not affect the total number of trainees taken on.
The Legal Cheek Firms Most List 2024 shows Macfarlanes takes on 33 trainees each year. Recruits earn £50,000 in year one and £55,000 in year two before a significant bump to £115,000 on qualification.
Jat Bains, early legal careers partner, commented:
“Congratulations to our March qualifiers, we are delighted to welcome this cohort of talented lawyers. We are confident that they will each make an important contribution to the ongoing success of our firm.”
Adding to this, Catherine Morgan-Guest, early legal careers senior manager, said:“Macfarlanes is committed to providing top quality training and support to ensure all our trainees can reach their full potential. Our trainees are the future of our firm and we look forward to seeing them thrive with us.”
Over the past month the Magic Circle firms have also announced their retention rates. Slaughter and May took the lead with 95% (35 of 37), with Linklaters posting 84% (41 out of 49) and Freshfields clocking the same percentage, albeit with a smaller cohort (32 out of 37). Allen & Overy recorded 77% (30 out of 39) and Clifford Chance hit 71% (40 out of 56).
