Slaughter and May is to retain 91 per cent of its September 2017 qualifying trainees.
In a statement, the firm said: “In terms of September qualification, 30 out of 32 qualifiers put themselves forward. The firm made offers to each of these 30 individuals, of which 29 were accepted. Our overall retention rate was again in line with previous years. We remain encouraged by our consistently high retention rates and are confident that all these talented lawyers will make a strong contribution to the firm.”
Retention tends to be high at Slaughter and May, although as at the other top firms, attrition at junior associate level tends to be high as well.
Meanwhile, Walker Morris has kept on 100 per cent of its qualifiers. The Leeds-based firm had 14 final-seat trainees, all of whom are staying on at the firm.
Seven firms have announced their retention figures for September so far, with rumours circulating in the market that at least one US firm has not kicked off its process yet.
| Trainees retained | Trainees left | Total number of qualifiers | Percentage retained | |
| Burges Salmon | 28 | 0 | 28 | 100 |
| Walker Morris | 14 | 0 | 14 | 100 |
| Ashurst | 19 | 1 | 20 | 95 |
| Slaughter and May | 29 | 3 | 32 | 91 |
| Blake Morgan | 8 | 1 | 9 | 89 |
| Shearman & Sterling | 13 | 2 | 15 | 87 |
| Mayer Brown | 8 | 3 | 11 | 73 |
