South West law firm Foot Anstey has retained all six of the latest trainee solicitors to have completed their two-year training contract with the firm.
The achievement comes at the same time as the quality of its solicitor training has been confirmed to be of the highest standard by Lex 100, a student guide to the premier UK law firms. 
Lex 100 undertakes an annual review on how firms deliver their training. This year, Foot Anstey – which has offices in Bristol, Taunton, Exeter, Plymouth, Southampton, Truro and London – has received nine awards, up from eight in 2015/16.
The awards are for client contact; confidence in being kept on; diversity; friendliness; job satisfaction; living up to expectations; quality of work; stress levels; and work-life balance.
Trainees who took part in the research selected Foot Anstey for being an ‘entrepreneurial, expanding firm’ which offers trainees the ‘opportunity to work with regional, national and international clients while remaining true to its roots in the West Country’.
The confirmation of the high-quality training offered by the firm is coupled with 100% of the firm’s newly qualified solicitors being offered and accepted jobs with the firm – a retention rate highly unusual among major law firms.
The new solicitors will be based in Bristol, Exeter and Plymouth. They will specialise in commercial, construction, corporate, clinical negligence, employment and Islamic finance.
Foot Anstey also has a dedicated legal apprenticeship scheme which is an alternative to the traditional university and training contract route to becoming a lawyer.
Six apprentices joined on the first intake on a three-year programme – an initiative praised in the legal industry and awarded ‘New Apprentice Employer of the Year’ by Weston College.
Foot Anstey HR director Ramsey Mirza said: “We consistently invest in our people to ensure our clients have access to the best lawyers. Foot Anstey lawyers are given top-class training and the opportunity to see how our nationally acclaimed experts support the ambitions of our clients.
“We are very proud to have our trainees and apprentices at the firm and are deeply committed to supporting more opportunities to enter and progress in the legal profession.”
