Bird & Bird boasts 100 per cent trainee retention rate

Bird & Bird has become the first City law firm to retain 100 per cent of its trainees due to qualify in September.

The firm has announced it will be retaining all 16 of its trainees due to qualify in September this year, with two even managing to complete their training contracts six months ahead of schedule thanks to their previous work experience.

The remaining 14 trainees will qualify into aviation, commercial, corporate, dispute resolution, employment and IP.

This year’s retention rate is an improvement on last year’s figure of 80 per cent when Bird & Bird only managed to keep on 12 out of 15 trainees.

Head of graduate and trainee management Lynne Walters said: “Almost 50 per cent of our current second year trainees have been with us since their summer vacation schemes and it’s fantastic to see them all qualify and be retained in their chosen departments.”

Separately, Bird & Bird has followed the lead of several other firms and slashed newly qualified salaries from £60,000 to £55,000 with effect from September. Meanwhile, trainee salaries have been frozen at £35,000 and £37,000 for first and second years respectively.

The news comes after US firm Shearman & Sterling announced it would only be retaining nine of its 14 London-based trainees due qualify in September (see story). Meanwhile, fellow US firm Weil Gotshal & Manges has just offered 85 per cent of its newly qualified lawyers jobs for the second year running, giving positions to 11 out of 13 qualifiers.

Elsewhere, LG is keeping on just nine of its 21 September qualifiers while Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is to give a no-strings cash payment to trainees not offered a job after it emerged it will take on only 70 per cent of its qualifying trainees in September (see story).

Allen & Overy has also warned its trainee solicitors that it may only keep on 70 per cent of its September 2009 and March 2010 qualifiers.