Norton Rose reports 83 per cent retention rate

Norton Rose has announced that it will be retaining 83 per cent of its September 2009 qualifiers.

The top ten law firm has offered positions to 20 out of 24 of its qualifying trainee solicitors with 18 accepting job offers in their first choice departments.

Trainees will be qualifying into banking, corporate finance, dispute resolution, and corporate services, with two going to work at the firm’s international offices in Frankfurt and Bahrain.

Norton Rose has also instructed the help of the Professional Careers Partnership to offer support and employment advice to those who have failed to secure a newly qualified position at the firm.

The news comes after Norton Rose emerged as one of the first firms to ask its future trainees to defer, offering them up to £10,000 to push back their start dates for up to 12 months. However, it is one of the few major law firms not to have announced redundancies and has instead opted for a flexible working policy as a contingency plan if economic conditions worsen.

In stark contrast to Norton Rose, Bird & Bird and US firms Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom have all reported a 100 per cent retention rate.

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 the magic circle firm will take on only 70 per cent of its qualifying trainees in September.

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.