Slaughter and May has become the first magic circle firm to announce its autumn trainee retention rate, with the firm retaining 91% of its cohort of trainees.

The firm confirmed that two trainees, out of the total 32, withdrew from the process before the qualification offers were made. It made offers to all of the remaining 30 and one opted to decline a role at the firm.

In a statement, Slaughters said: "Our overall retention rate was again in line with previous years. We remain encouraged by our consistently high retention rates and are confident that all these talented lawyers will make a strong contribution to the firm."

The rate is up compared to last year's autumn intake, when the firm kept on 89% of its trainees.

Earlier this year, Slaughters posted a 100% spring retention rate, with 25 out of 25 qualifiers staying on with the firm.

Last month, Legal Week reported that Slaughter and May had decided against increasing London associate pay for 2017-18, after significantly hiking salaries at the start of the year.

Slaughters raised London associate salaries by up to 10% as of 1 January, in a one-off move outside of the firm's regular annual pay review.

The hikes came alongside the introduction of a wide-ranging overhaul of pay and benefits at the firm, which saw it move away from performance-based pay.