US firm Arnold & Porter is to double its trainee numbers from two to four by recruiting trainees every year.
Previously, the firm only took two trainees every other year. As of September 2017, however it will recruit annually. It has already hired its 2017 starters and is in the process of finalising the two candidates for 2018 training contracts.
A spokesperson for the firm said: “One of the ways we are addressing an increased need for junior lawyers in the London office over the mid-to-longer term is via organic growth. This is why we have decided to increase our trainee intake.”
“Taking trainees on every year will mean more visibility and we expect that we will continue to attract large numbers of good quality candidates.”
The firm first took trainees in 2004. It has a strong reputation for pro bono work, topping the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s 2015 index of pro bono, with its London lawyers averaging nearly 80 hours each per year.
Other American firms to increase their trainee intakes in recent years include Shearman & Sterling and K&L Gates as well as Latham & Watkins and Ropes & Gray.
