CMS offering cash to trainees-to-be in return for deferred start date

Sources close to the merger have reported that CMS is paying law students who have been accepted for trainee positions around £8,000 by way of compensation if they agree to defer their starting date with the firm by 12 months. With trainee contract offers usually awarded up to two years in advance, the combined CMS, Olswang and Nabarro megafirm (to be known simply as CMS) will be inundated with junior lawyers once it combines all current offers spread across the three firms. According to reporting in Legal Cheek, the combined firm is scheduled to receive around 90 trainees across two intakes in the coming year – 60 recruited by CMS, 20 by Nabarro and nine by Olswang. However, there is reportedly only space to accommodate 60 trainees per year.