Bird & Bird has revealed its autumn retention for 2015, with 15 of 18 staying on at the firm as newly-qualified (NQ) solicitors.

This translates to an 83 per cent retention rate, which is lower than last year when 14 out of the 15 qualifying trainees accepted offers. 

It is also a dip from 2013, when the firm recorded a 94 per cent retention rate, offering all 16 of its qualifiers NQ jobs with 15 acceptances. 

This year, 16 of the 18 trainees were made offers, and the firm told Lawyer 2B that the only non-acceptance was from a trainee who decided to leave law and work in a lion sanctuary in South Africa.

Six of the 15 NQs retained at Bird & Bird in 2015 have joined the intellectual property practice, with five joining commercial and one apiece going to employment, risk and compliance, dispute resolution, and corporate.

In the last three years, of those qualifiers who stayed on at the firm, nearly 40 per cent have joined the commercial team, with one in every three going to the IP department.

Bird & Bird’s news means 30 firms have declared their retention figures so far, with 551 of 639 qualifiers (86 per cent) staying on at the firm that trained them.

Autumn 2015 retention so far Trainees retained Total number of qualifiers Percentage retained
Burges Salmon 24 24 100
Jones Day 15 15 100
White & Case 14 14 100
Shearman & Sterling 13 13 100
Weil Gotshal 9 9 100
Cripps 8 8 100
Covington & Burling 7 7 100
Sullivan & Cromwell 4 4 100
Clifford Chance 45 47 96
Latham & Watkins 20 21 95
Travers Smith 17 18 94
Walker Morris 13 14 93
Herbert Smith Freehills 34 37 92
Slaughter and May 33 37 89
Mills & Reeve 14 16 88
Taylor Wessing 20 23 87
Allen & Overy 38 44 86
Ashurst 18 21 86
Linklaters 46 55 84
Freshfields 40 48 83
Bird & Bird 15 18 83
Foot Anstey 5 6 83
Hogan Lovells 23 29 79
Fieldfisher 10 13 77
Nabarro 10 13 77
Berwin Leighton Paisner 17 24 71
Trowers & Hamlins 5 7 71
Simmons & Simmons 18 28 64
Ince & Co 9 15 60
Mayer Brown* 7 11 55

Bird & Bird NQ retention

Bird & Bird NQ destinations