National player retains marginally more autumn qualifiers than most rivals in further sign of tentative graduate recruitment market recovery
UK top-25 law firm Addleshaw Goddard announced today that it was hanging on to 82% of its trainees that qualified this autumn, bringing its total retention rate this year to 85%.
The announcement brings the firm into line with the average retention rate this year — 83% — for those firms that have released figures so far to the legal press.
Addleshaw retained 23 of the 28 trainees that qualified last month. That figure combined with a 100% retention rate for a smaller group of six last March.
According to the firm, this year’s qualifiers will be split across offices in London, Leeds and Manchester. While the rookie lawyers will go to all of the firm’s five main divisions, about half will be assigned to the corporate and commercial teams.
The firm’s resourcing manager, Gun Judge, said the “strong retention rate is testimony to [the trainees’] hard work and our commitment as a firm to attract, retain and develop great people”.
So far in the City, several firms have announced 100% retention rates. They include English practices RPC (15 qualifiers) and Fieldfisher (11), and two US firms, White & Case (14) and Weil Gotshal & Manges (11).
Those near the 100% mark are Clyde & Co, which retained 42 of 43 trainees, Slaughter and May (33 of 34), Travers Smith (16-17), Linklaters (53 of 57), Burgess Salmon (20-22) and Taylor Wessing (20 of 22).
For more information about the top 60 law firms — including which pay most, which are most diverse and which have the most social media clout — check out the new The Legal Cheek Top 60 Firms ‘Most’ List and accompanying law firm profiles.
The Legal Cheek Top 60 Firms ‘Most’ List [Legal Cheek]