Olswang has confirmed that only 58% - 14 out of 24 - of its qualifying trainees will be kept on this September. And McGrigors is keeping on just 64% of its qualifiers.
By any measure this is a poor result for Olswang, and it prompted several complaints to RollOnFriday that the firm was being unduly tightfisted in the light of its recent surge in profits. However, it seems that's not the full story. A spokeswoman said that 19 places had been offered to the trainees, but some departments had been oversubscribed. She said that "we have a commitment to help our trainees pursue the area of law that genuinely interests them. Our experience shows that trainees that take 'whatever is offered' generally do not prosper in the long term which is not good for them or the business. During the remaining three months of their contracts, we will use our recruitment and client contacts to help them find places at other firms or with clients."
Dividing the sheep from the goats on qualification is never easy. But losing ten NQs will have crystalised a seven figure loss for Olswang. And it's a damning indictment that half of them chose to leave the firm altogether rather than take what was offered to them.
Meanwhile McGrigors hasn't done much better. Insiders say that the firm originally said it would offer a reasonable 30 NQ places to its 36 qualifying trainees, only to scale this down to 22 after the application process had started. Richard Masters, the firm's Managing Partner, told RollOnFriday that "we originally offered our trainees 30 NQ roles but we've had to revise our thinking due to continuing fragile market conditions. Unfortunately, this means we will be losing folk who we really wanted to keep in the business. We're going to keep the situation under review over the summer and hope very much to be able to offer a few further NQ jobs".
But still there was jolly good news for trainees at Shearman & Sterling's London office. The firm has confirmed that 11 of its 12 qualifiers are being kept on, a market-beating 92%. A spokesman for Shearmans said that it "underscores the firm's commitment to growing our UK law capability organically".
Other firms have yet to announce their September figures (click here to send them in). But retention rates for qualifiers back in March this year averaged 73% (with the exception of a disasterous performance from Denton Wilde Sapte, which kept on just one of its seven NQs) - the big question is, are firms brave enough to beat that now?
STOP PRESS - RollOnFriday can confirm that Herbert Smith is offering 50 places to 67 qualifiers, a rate of 75%.
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By any measure this is a poor result for Olswang, and it prompted several complaints to RollOnFriday that the firm was being unduly tightfisted in the light of its recent surge in profits. However, it seems that's not the full story. A spokeswoman said that 19 places had been offered to the trainees, but some departments had been oversubscribed. She said that "we have a commitment to help our trainees pursue the area of law that genuinely interests them. Our experience shows that trainees that take 'whatever is offered' generally do not prosper in the long term which is not good for them or the business. During the remaining three months of their contracts, we will use our recruitment and client contacts to help them find places at other firms or with clients."
Dividing the sheep from the goats on qualification is never easy. But losing ten NQs will have crystalised a seven figure loss for Olswang. And it's a damning indictment that half of them chose to leave the firm altogether rather than take what was offered to them.
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Olswang yesterday |
Meanwhile McGrigors hasn't done much better. Insiders say that the firm originally said it would offer a reasonable 30 NQ places to its 36 qualifying trainees, only to scale this down to 22 after the application process had started. Richard Masters, the firm's Managing Partner, told RollOnFriday that "we originally offered our trainees 30 NQ roles but we've had to revise our thinking due to continuing fragile market conditions. Unfortunately, this means we will be losing folk who we really wanted to keep in the business. We're going to keep the situation under review over the summer and hope very much to be able to offer a few further NQ jobs".
But still there was jolly good news for trainees at Shearman & Sterling's London office. The firm has confirmed that 11 of its 12 qualifiers are being kept on, a market-beating 92%. A spokesman for Shearmans said that it "underscores the firm's commitment to growing our UK law capability organically".
Other firms have yet to announce their September figures (click here to send them in). But retention rates for qualifiers back in March this year averaged 73% (with the exception of a disasterous performance from Denton Wilde Sapte, which kept on just one of its seven NQs) - the big question is, are firms brave enough to beat that now?
STOP PRESS - RollOnFriday can confirm that Herbert Smith is offering 50 places to 67 qualifiers, a rate of 75%.