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