Four rookies exit the Broadgate Tower
Global law firm Reed Smith has revealed a so-so retention rate of 67% — albeit from a relatively small cohort.
Of the 12 final-seat trainees due to qualify this autumn, eight will be staying on as newly qualified associates (NQs) at the City practice, which is housed high up on the 23rd to the 33rd floors of the iconic Broadgate Tower (down which its lawyers occasionally abseil).
Two of these newbie lawyers will be based in the international outfit’s corporate department, two more in commercial disputes, one in employment, one in energy and natural resources, another in financial industries and one in shipping. All eight will spend their days in the firm’s London office, and will be paid an annual salary of £63,000.
In a statement the firm’s training principal, Samantha Roberts, expressed her pleasure at welcoming the eight new lawyers to the Reed Smith team, while wishing the trainees that have exited “all the best”.
This season’s result, which follows a spring 2016 score of 58%, represents a marked drop on the 90%+ retention rates posted by the firm in spring 2014, autumn 2014 and spring 2015.
Other firms to have recently published retention rates include Dentons (68%), Taylor Wessing (77%), Hogan Lovells (80%) and Herbert Smith Freehills (94%).