Dickinson Dees has confirmed the worst newly qualified lawyer (NQ) retention rate for Autumn 2011 so far.
The Newcastle-headquartered firm is keeping only four of its 11 final seat trainee solicitors giving it a woeful 36 per cent retention rate. This was also a drop from last Autumn’s figure of 47 per cent.
Managing partner Jonathan Blair said: “We were pleased to offer 11 NQ places within the firm. Positions have been offered and accepted by four. Six of our trainees have chosen to relocate primarily for personal domestic reasons,”
“This is disappointing but we understand the reasoning and we wish them well for the future. We have 17 trainees joining us in September which will take our total trainee headcount to 32.”
Meanwhile, City-based Travers Smith has confirmed a 76 per cent retention rate, keeping 13 of its 17 trainees. This shows a fall from its Spring rate of 100 per cent when all seven NQs stayed on and September 2010 where it retained 81 per cent, keeping 13 out of 16 qualifiers.
Elsewhere, Baker & McKenzie has offered 16 NQ roles to its 20 final seat trainees giving the firm a provisional retention rate of 80 per cent. This is a drop from it September 2010 figure of 95 per cent.
Readers' comments (12)
Rupert Murdoch | 21-Jul-2011 10:11 am
“This is disappointing but we understand the reasoning and we wish them well for the future. We have 17 trainees joining us in September which will take our total trainee headcount to 32.”
How exactly is it relevant that 17 (unfortunate) trainees are joining in September?! The effect of barely any NQs is the same: no one is available to do work cheaply and relatively unsupervised, meaning that fees and/or write offs go up, and client satisfaction goes down. Not a very profitable position to be in.
This statement yet again encapsulates the outstanding ability of Dickinson Dees' management and partners to utterly miss the point.
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Anonymous | 21-Dec-2011 5:12 pm
Is 36% a record?
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