Jones Day finally confirms autumn trainee retention rate of 76%

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By Thomas Connelly on

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

Firm Score Breakdown
Burges Salmon 100% 28/28
Watson Farley & Williams 100% 15/15
Fieldfisher 100% 13/13
Blake Morgan 100% 9/9
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton 100% 9/9
Forsters 100% 8/8
Sullivan & Cromwell 100% 4/4
Latham & Watkins 95% 21/22
Ashurst 95% 19/20
Baker McKenzie 94% 15/16
Macfarlanes 92% 23/25 (two on FTC*)
Slaughter and May 91% 29/32
Travers Smith 90% 18/20
Ince & Co 90% 9/10
Stephenson Harwood 90% 9/10
Blake Morgan 89% 8/9
Reed Smith 86% 12/14
Allen & Overy 85% 40/47
Linklaters 84% 47/56
Gowling WLG 84% 21/25
Bird & Bird 83% 15/18
White & Case 83% 15/18
Covington & Burling 83% 5/6
Osborne Clarke 82% 14/17
RPC 82% 14/17
Clifford Chance 81% 42/52
Addleshaw Goddard 81% 38/47
Bond Dickinson 81% 22/27
Eversheds Sutherland 80% 44/55
Herbert Smith Freehills 80% 28/35
Hogan Lovells 80% 24/30
HFW 80% 8/10
Clyde & Co 79% 34/43 (one on FTC)
Mills & Reeve 79% 15/19 (one on FTC)
DLA Piper 78% 75/96
Simmons & Simmons 78% 21/27
DAC Beachcroft 77% 10/13
Jones Day 76% 16/21
Shearman & Sterling 75% 12/16
Pinsent Masons 74% 67/91
Mayer Brown 73% 8/11
Withers 73% 8/11
Charles Russell Speechlys 71% 17/24
Trowers & Hamlins 70% 7/10
Berwin Leighton Paisner 67% 16/24
Browne Jacobson 67% 6/9
DWF 66% 33/50
Freshfields 66% 27/41
Squire Patton Boggs 65% Not disclosed
Dentons 64% 18/28
Mishcon de Reya 64% 9/14
Norton Rose Fulbright 62% 16/26 (two on FTC)
Taylor Wessing 62% 16/26
Shoosmiths 57% 12/21
Kirkland & Ellis 56% 5/9
Weil Gotshal 50% 5/10
Stewarts Law 25% 1/4

*Fixed term contract

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