CMS Cameron McKenna has kept on 77% of its September qualifiers, a retention rate that places the firm largely in line with figures reported by its City competitors this summer.

The firm offered 21 out of 30 newly-qualified trainees jobs as associates, while also finding alternative roles for two of the other qualifiers, with one staying on as a paralegal and one hired as an assistant to Camerons general counsel Craig Perry.

The retention rate was lower than the 89% figure this March – when Camerons kept on 26 out of 29 qualifying trainees – and last September's rate of 85%, when the firm retained 23 out of 27. The firm attributed the lower retention rate to the financial downturn.

Camerons graduate recruitment partner Simon Pilcher said: "Typically we would like the retention rate to be a little bit higher, but we were pleased that we could find roles for as many as we could. It helped that we allowed ourselves an extra month to assess the market situation as it allowed us to better assess our future requirements."

Out of the 21 retained, four agreed to relocate to the firm's Bristol office. All of the firm's practice groups accepted newly-qualifieds, with the insurance and commercial groups taking on the most.

This month Camerons took on a new batch of 24 trainees due to qualify in two years time, after six that were set to start agreed to defer for a year, receiving a payment of £7,500 as compensation.

The firm is hoping that 15 out of a total 65 in the combined August 2009 and February 2010 intake will agree to defer, with the number of deferral acceptances for February still pending.

CMS Cameron McKenna on the Legal Week Wiki