Clifford Chance has become the first of the magic circle firms to unveil its retention figures for the spring, keeping on 34 of its 40 qualifiers, or 85 per cent.
All 40 trainees applied for newly qualified jobs at the firm, with all 34 of those made offers accepting.
Clifford Chance does not comment on its figures, but the trainee cohort is the smallest in many years. With just 40 members, it has 11 few members than last spring’s group. At its height, the trainee group who arrived at the firm in autumn 2008 had 74 members.
Elsewhere, Mayer Brown has also recorded its retention figures for the spring, retaining four of five qualifiers: two in the finance department, one in IP and one in litigation
