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Jones Day finally confirms autumn trainee retention rate of 76%

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As Shoosmiths and DAC Beachcroft reveal respective 57% and 77% scores

The London office of US law firm Jones Day has finally confirmed its 2017 autumn retention figure. It’s 76%.

Of the 21 final seat trainees who qualified last month, 16 have opted to stay on as newly qualified (NQ) associates. The Ohio-headquartered outfit, which offers around 20 UK training contacts annually in the UK, confirmed that it made 18 offers, with two rookies declining.

Legal Cheek’s Firms Most List 2017-18 shows that Jones Day’s NQs will start on a impressive £100,000. This puts them £5,000 better off than their opposite numbers at fellow US player Dechert, and just £1,500 behind those finding their associate feet at the London office of New York stalwart Sullivan & Cromwell. Trainees at Jones Day currently earn £47,000, rising to £54,000 in year two.

The firm — which has a number of lawyers currently serving in President Donald Trump’s White House administration — scored well in our Trainee and Junior Lawyer Survey 2017-18. It bagged an A* for perks and a host of As for, among other things, training, quality of work and social life.

Meanwhile, national player Shoosmiths has posted a disappointing 57% result. The firm — which offers roughly 22 training positions each year — has retained just 12 of its 21 autumn NQs.

A spokesperson revealed to Legal Cheek that the firm actually had space for 23 new associates but was unable to match NQs with their preferred departments or offices. Shoosmiths trainees earn £26,000 in year one, rising to £27,000 in year two. Upon qualification, a newbie associate will earn a salary of £40,000.

Shoosmiths did OK in our Trainee and Junior Lawyer Survey 2017-18. It scored As for training, quality of work, peer support and work/life balance, but got a B for partner approachability and C for social life.

Elsewhere, international outfit DAC Beachcroft confirmed it had retained ten of its 13 autumn NQs. Giving it a respectable score of 77%, the firm confirmed that four trainees would be based in London, three in Bristol, two in Leeds and one in Manchester. The new recruits will be spread across a number of the firm’s key practice areas including corporate, clinical risk and real estate.

DAC Beachcroft — which chalked up As for partner approachability, quality of work and work/life balance in our recent survey, with Bs for training and peer support — offers around 13 training contracts each year. Salaries for NQs in the regions range from £37,000 to £40,000 depending on location, while those in London start lawyer life on £60,000.

Trainee autumn retention 2017

FirmScoreBreakdown
Burges Salmon100%28/28
Watson Farley & Williams100%15/15
Fieldfisher100%13/13
Blake Morgan100%9/9
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton100%9/9
Forsters100%8/8
Sullivan & Cromwell100%4/4
Latham & Watkins95%21/22
Ashurst95%19/20
Baker McKenzie94%15/16
Macfarlanes92%23/25 (two on FTC*)
Slaughter and May91%29/32
Travers Smith90%18/20
Ince & Co90%9/10
Stephenson Harwood90%9/10
Blake Morgan89%8/9
Reed Smith86%12/14
Allen & Overy85%40/47
Linklaters84%47/56
Gowling WLG84%21/25
Bird & Bird83%15/18
White & Case83%15/18
Covington & Burling83%5/6
Osborne Clarke82%14/17
RPC82%14/17
Clifford Chance81%42/52
Addleshaw Goddard81%38/47
Bond Dickinson81%22/27
Eversheds Sutherland80%44/55
Herbert Smith Freehills80%28/35
Hogan Lovells80%24/30
HFW80%8/10
Clyde & Co79%34/43 (one on FTC)
Mills & Reeve79%15/19 (one on FTC)
DLA Piper78%75/96
Simmons & Simmons78%21/27
DAC Beachcroft77%10/13
Jones Day76%16/21
Shearman & Sterling75%12/16
Pinsent Masons74%67/91
Mayer Brown73%8/11
Withers73%8/11
Charles Russell Speechlys71%17/24
Trowers & Hamlins70%7/10
Berwin Leighton Paisner67%16/24
Browne Jacobson67%6/9
DWF66%33/50
Freshfields66%27/41
Squire Patton Boggs65%Not disclosed
Dentons64%18/28
Mishcon de Reya64%9/14
Norton Rose Fulbright62%16/26 (two on FTC)
Taylor Wessing62%16/26
Shoosmiths57%12/21
Kirkland & Ellis56%5/9
Weil Gotshal50%5/10
Stewarts Law25%1/4

*Fixed term contract

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