Ninety percent of newly qualified lawyers offered jobs as retention rates in Asia surpass London intakes

Trainee retention rates at the Hong Kong offices of the UK's top 10 law firms have remained broadly static on last year as firms continue to invest in Asian markets, despite a comparatively uncertain year for the local economy.

Ninety percent (55 out of 62) of newly qualified lawyers (NQs) at the UK's top firms in Hong Kong were offered jobs this September, all of whom accepted, according to research by Legal Week.

This compares to last year's figure of 94% when 58 out of 63 NQs were offered roles, with 55 accepting.

Clifford Chance (CC), Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Slaughter and May, Linklaters and Eversheds all retained their entire NQ round in Hong Kong this year, while Allen & Overy (A&O), Herbert Smith Freehills and DLA Piper each kept on more than 80%.

A&O, Hogan Lovells, Norton Rose Fulbright and DLA Piper saw slight dips in retention rates on last years' values; however, broadly retention rates in Asia are higher this year than across the larger London intakes.

Lak Purewal, head of HR at Norton Rose Fulbright, said: "The key difference is in the number of trainees that are recruited. Fewer slots may be available for specific areas, and where you have a lot 

of competition, especially in the current economic climate, some trainees may drop off if they haven't met the quality standard." 

Firms' continued investment in Asia is apparent from the rise in graduate recruitment, which has grown 8% from 2012 to 2013. The top 10 firms took on 77 lawyers for training contracts this year compared to 71 last year. This figure stood at 62 in 2011.

The firm that saw the biggest jump in new trainees was CC, taking on 10 this year compared with just six in 2012. Seven out of the 10 firms offered more training contracts in Hong Kong this year than they did last year, with only Hogan Lovells, Linklaters and A&O reducing the number. 

"Firms in Hong Kong are slightly more confident this year," said King Tak Fung, Eversheds' Hong Kong recruitment partner. 

"Generally, most of the law firms are busy. There is also a time lag of at least two years, so people can hardly project the economy of two years later, so they will try and be a little bit optimistic about manpower provisions."

Sushma Sharma, Postgraduate Certificate in Law programme leader at City University of Hong Kong, said it remained difficult for Hong Kong graduates to secure training contracts at law firms despite rising numbers at the top UK outfits.

"It is harder than it was two or three years ago," she said. "The numbers in the bigger firms may have slightly gone up because the market in Hong Kong has been a little better than what's happening in the UK, and so they're focusing on here more, but they take only a small percentage of the total graduates in Hong Kong."

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