Linklaters keeps 47 of its 56 trainees upon qualification

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By Thomas Connelly on

Magic circle retains 84% of rookies as newly qualified solicitors

Global titan Linklaters has posted a solid retention score of 84%.

Of the 56 final seat trainees due to qualify this September, 47 will be staying on as newly-qualified (NQ) associates. Linklaters — which is largest training contract provider in the City, with 110 positions annually — confirmed it had made 53 offers, with all but six accepting.

According to Legal Cheek’s Most List, the firm’s rookie associates will start on a very respectable £78,500 a year. A bonus scheme can take top performers up to £90k. Year one trainee salaries currently sit at £43,000, rising to £49,000 in year two.

Traditionally, Linklaters is a strong retention performer. In the last three retention rounds it’s notched up results of 86% (44 out of 51), 91% (51 out of 56) and 83% (45 out of 54).

The Barbican-based outfit’s latest set of financials show that profit per equity partner (PEP) had risen to £1.57 million, up from £1.45 million, while revenues hit £1.43 billion — an uplift of almost 10%.

Elsewhere in the magic circle, Allen & Overy confirmed last week that 40 out of 47 September qualifiers had opted to stick around, equating to a solid retention score of 85%. Meanwhile, Slaughter and May kept hold of 29 out of 32 NQs, giving it a score of 91%. Finally, Freshfields — confirming Legal Cheek predictions — posted an uncharacteristically low 66% (27 out of 41). Clifford Chance is the only magic circler still to reveal its autumn 2017 score.

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