Graduate intake at top UK law firms falls 11% over post-crunch years

Graduate recruitment across the bulk of the UK top 20 looks set to shrink by more than 10% between 2008-09 and 2013-14 as firms continue to scale back trainee numbers in response to the dampened economic climate.

Research by Legal Week into the graduate intakes at the UK's top law firms shows recruitment numbers will drop by 11% across the period, with Linklaters, Allen & Overy (A&O), Herbert Smith and Eversheds making the biggest reductions.

While most firms initially cut back numbers for the 2009-10 graduate intakes in the wake of the 2008 Lehman Brothers collapse, recruitment has not picked up again, with some major firms continuing to make small reductions.

The figures show Eversheds' 52-strong 2013-14 graduate intake looks set to be 38% smaller than the equivalent intake in 2008-09. Meanwhile, Herbert Smith and A&O will see respective reductions of 25% and 21%, while Linklaters' target recruitment figures show a drop of 15%.

In contrast, Irwin Mitchell is one of the few to buck the trend without a merger, with the firm increasing its graduate hiring by 46% from 24 to 35 over the same years.

A&O training principal David Campbell said: "Our aim is that, as far as possible, the number of newly-qualified (NQ) jobs on offer matches up to the number of trainees qualifying with us – and there just won't be as many London NQ jobs in the future.

"Firms face a straightforward choice: we can continue to recruit at the same levels regardless of the economic situation and retain fewer on qualification, or we can reduce recruitment and keep retention levels up. We chose the latter."

Eversheds senior HR business manager Sara Lewis said: "Our trainee numbers are based on proposed NQ numbers for the future. We also want to ensure that the trainees have a first-class experience during their training contract. Our training contracts aim to offer a high quality experience and a strong final retention rate."

The research also shows trainee retention rates have recovered slightly since spring 2010, when the average across the UK top 20 stood at 77%. This figure rose to 85% by September 2011, but slipped back to 80% in September 2012.

Pinsents has seen the lowest average retention rate across the six intakes during 2010-12 with 71%, followed by Hogan Lovells on 72% and SJ Berwin at 74%.

Berwin Leighton Paisner, Slaughter and May and Clyde & Co have the best average retention rates over the period, with all standing at more than 86%.

The graduate recruitment figures do not include Clyde & Co or Pinsent Masons as their recent mergers artificially inflate the numbers, while Norton Rose has been excluded as it did not provide all of the data. The retention rate research excludes Simmons & Simmons for the same reason.

Source: Suzi Ring, Legalweek.com, Friday 7th September 2012