Linklaters and Mills & Reeve reveal trainee retention rates
updated on 04 August 2025
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Multinational law firm Linklaters LLP has revealed a trainee retention rate of 83% for its London-based trainees qualifying in autumn, while Mills & Reeve LLP will retain 24 of its 26 trainees.
Mills & Reeve will see seven of its newly qualified (NQ) solicitors join the firm’s Cambridge and Birmingham offices. The rest will be split between Norwich (four), Leeds (three), Manchester (two) and London (one), according to The Lawyer, with corporate and commercial, real estate, and employment among the most qualified into practice areas for this round.
Meanwhile, Linklaters, which offers around 100 training contracts in London each year, made 34 offers for permanent positions as part of the most recent trainee cohort, with 33 of those being accepted. Meanwhile, three trainees from the firm’s Hong Kong SAR office and one from its Singapore office also received and accepted offers for NQ roles in London.
Chris Stevenson, trainee development partner at Linklaters, said the NQs are “well positioned to grow and thrive”, having benefited from the opportunities across the firm’s “global platform”, and been supported by its “culture of teamwork and high performance.
According to Legal Cheek, Linklaters pays its NQs £150,000, while first-year trainees earn £56,000, and second years earn £61,000.
Find out about other law firm trainee retention rates and NQ pay via LawCareers.Net’s recent News.
