CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang has managed to retain 72 per cent of its final seat trainees this autumn.
Of a total cohort of 65 qualifiers, 47 will stay on at the firm, with four of them on fixed-term contracts.
CMS, Nabarro and Olswang entered into a three-way merger earlier this year, with trainees at all three firms transferring into one super-sized cohort.
In the wake of the news, the firms offered trainees due to start this month £10,000 to defer the start of their training contract for six months until February 2018.
Despite a huge jump in the number of qualifiers (the pre-merger CMS Cameron McKenna had 30 last autumn), retention was no worse than in recent rounds at CMS, although the firm has posted below-average results for a number of years.
Of the 47 trainees staying on, 34 will work in the firm’s London office, four in Edinburgh, four in Sheffield, three in Glasgow, and one each in Manchester and Aberdeen.
Eleven go to the energy, projects and construction department, ten to litigation, nine to corporate, seven to TMT, four to banking and finance, three to financial markets and pensions, two to real estate and one to human capital.
Elsewhere, Weightmans kept on 14 of 16 qualifers (88 per cent) and Addleshaw Goddard has retained 38 of 47 (81 per cent).
