Linklaters has become the latest magic circle firm to post trainee retention rates with the City giant keeping on 87% of September qualifiers.

In total, 69 legal trainees are due to qualify with Linklaters in September, out of which 68 applied for a position. The firm offered jobs to 63 legal trainees and 60 have accepted.

The retention rate is an improvement on the rate posted by the firm in September 2009 when it kept on 76% of the intake.

Elsewhere in the UK’s magic circle, Clifford Chance (CC) previously announced that it will retain 79% of total number of qualifiers in September and Allen & Overy (A&O) will keep on 81%. Slaughter and May posted the highest rate in the magic circle with a 93% retention rate.

The news comes as September 2010 retention rates among the UK top 30 law firms have shown improvement across the board. Including Linklaters, the average retention rate currently stands at 82% with only a handful of firms yet to post figures.

Other top performers included Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) and Macfarlanes which both posted rates of over 90%. Meanwhile, Pinsent Masons have posted the lowest figure with a 55% retention rate.

Source : Legal Week