More firms announced strong autumn trainee retention rates, as latest figures showed the majority of newly qualified solicitors will be based in London.

International firm DAC Beachcroft retained 100% of its newly qualified cohort, up from 79% last year. Of its 11 trainees, six are based in London, one in Manchester and one in Leeds.

Managing partner Paul Murray said its latest retention rate was ‘testament to the high quality of trainee solicitors we continue to attract’.

International firm Eversheds retained 37 of its 45-strong pool this autumn, with 20 of the firm’s newly qualified lawyers scoring jobs in its company commercial practice, seven in litigation, seven in human resources and three in real estate.

More than two-thirds of the new associates will be based in London; the remainder will work across the firm’s offices in Birmingham, Cambridge, Cardiff, Leeds, Manchester and Nottingham.

Overall, the firm retained 87% of its trainees this year after retaining all 17 of its trainees in the spring – a slight dip on its 88% retention rate for 2014. 

HR director Moira Slape said the firm focused ‘heavily’ on ensuring its lawyers ‘receive the training and skills to equip them with the commercial acumen and innovative skills required in an increasingly competitive legal market’.

Multinational firm CMS Cameron McKenna kept on 38 of its 50 trainees, giving it a 76% retention rate. It retained 67% of its 61-strong cohort last autumn.

The firm said 20 of its newly qualified lawyers will be based in London, three in Bristol and 15 in Scotland.

Senior partner Penelope Warne (pictured) said the firm was ‘very committed to our young top talent’ as one of its ‘key strategic priorities’.

Meanwhile international firm Norton Rose Fulbright retained 77% of its trainees. The firm made offers to 26 of the 31 solicitors who qualified; 24 accepted. 

International firm Bird & Bird offered jobs to 16 of its 18 newly qualified lawyers. A spokesperson for the firm said the only one who didn’t accept their offer ‘has left the law and gone to work in a lion sanctuary in South Africa’.

Of the remaining 15, six will work in intellectual property, five in commercial, and one apiece in employment, dispute resolution, corporate, and risk and compliance. 

International firm Dentons, which has offices in London and Milton Keynes, achieved a 82% retention rate. The firm said 16 of its 20 lawyers have stayed on in the UK; all three of its lawyers in the Middle East also remain.