. Although Russell Group candidates currently dominate the universities which lawyers at Magic Circle firms recruit from, you do not need to attend one of these universities to secure a position at a Magic Circle Firm. They are way more likely to make it to the top of such firms than graduates of Newcastle, Liverpool, Cardiff, Queens Belfast and Queen Mary University of London, which each account for just 1% of Russell Group partners. Following a . The Magic Circle of Law Firms | Chambers USA Legal Topics Rather than instantly concluding Russell Group unis are better for getting a training contract, its worth noting top unis are often the ones pumping out larger numbers of law students. [1], The Silver Circle is an informal term for perceived elite corporate law firms headquartered in the United Kingdom that are the main competitors for the Magic Circle in the United Kingdom. BTEC Business Unit 6 (Principles or Management) May 2nd Resit (2023), Which poems from love and relationships should i memorise? Their elite status in a competitive industry comes from various factors, including their client base, their revenue per lawyer, their revenue per partner and the number of lawyers they have working for them. At these firms, we spoke to graduates of46 different universities. Less established US firms concentrate their recruitment efforts on the 'top' universities in order to increase their prestige and position in the London market. Here are the results. Part of the Dukes Education family Together we're extraordinary. These firms are some of the most prestigious in the . At these firms, we spoke to graduates of58 universities. In comparison to the overall picture of London, the top end of the market held a higher proportion of Oxbridge graduates; a similar amount from the remaining Russell Group universities; and fewer trainees from other UK institutions. The term was coined by The Lawyer magazine in 2005 in response to the pre-existing term, Magic Circle. For instance, Freshfields and Allen & Overy now enjoy local rankings in California, a fiercely contested market traditionally dominated by homegrown firms. In 1920, Linklater & Co merged with Paines Plythe & Huxtable, a firm that had been founded by a descendent of one of the founding fathers of the United States, Thomas Paine. Some firms may specify a strong 2:1, which is generally seen as achieving between 65-70%. Want a more specific insight into each of these firms? The trope explained above that in the eyes of the more prestige-obsessed graduate, London is the be-all and end-all is visible here. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. At these firms, we spoke to graduates of 36 universities. All the resources you need to research law firms and barristers' chambers, We interviewed over 2,500 trainees for our True Picture reviews over the past three years and recorded the university where each one of them completed their undergraduate degree. Even the top law firms do not specify attending a particular university, or particular group of universities in their application process. Everyone on TSR seems to go to Oxbridge, except a couple went to Oxford Brookes and Kings College. [citation needed] Considered the oldest international law firm in the world; Original partner Samuel Dodd was appointed solicitor to the Bank of England Freshfields have continued to be the legal advisor to the bank ever since; Appointed the first legal services provider to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The majority of our trainee interviewees 81.4% hailed from a Russell Group university. The research shows 76 per cent of trainee lawyers at the UKs leading 139 law firms are Oxbridge and Russell Group graduates. The link between prestigious institutions and prestigious careers is difficult to challenge. 5 Types of City Law Firms You Need to Know | The Lawyer Portal Wondering what the salary is like for a Magic Circle trainee? One magic circle interviewee was a single mum with two kids and had graduated through the Open University. 19. We could stop our investigation right here: the law is demanding, intellectually rigorous and it needs capable graduates see graph. Used by Microsoft as a unique identifier. It argued that Clifford Chances profitability does not match the other Magic Circle firms, and that Slaughter and May operates a different (UK-focused) model, with revenue less than half of the other Magic Circle firms. Amlaw 100 Amlaw 200 Global 200 NLJ 500 A-List Diversity Scorecard Go-to Law Schools . [1] The Club of Nine was an informal group of law firms that comprised Allen & Overy; Clifford Chance; Freshfields (now Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer); Herbert Smith (now Herbert Smith Freehills); Linklaters; Lovells (now Hogan Lovells); Norton Rose (now Norton Rose Fulbright); Slaughter and May; and Stephenson Harwood. Copyright 2023 Legal Cheek Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Quiz now! The short answer is no. This will skew the results in favour of the larger institutions. Increase your chances of success at an assessment centre. What happens if i dont get my A-level predicted grades for Rice University? This survey doesnt account for the numbers graduating from each institution. Will taking Further Maths as a third subject be a disadvantage to apply for uni? The silver circle - Chambers Student Guide This study will point to issues about social mobility in the law. Conducted over a period of three years, the survey data was based on 2,300 interviews with trainees at 124 law firms. Participating firms represent the more competitive half of the market: combined their trainee vacancies amount to over 2,500, which is over half all trainee positions going each year. The highly esteemed quintet are renowned for their pedigree in the most complex and high- profile mandates for the most significant clients, their outstanding financial performance and the highly impressive number of individual lawyers working across a multitude of practice areas offered. What Are the Magic Circle Law Firms? | The Lawyer Portal London is a global legal hub only rivalled by New York. We expect that more firms will adopt techniques like this in the years ahead as they acknowledge the need to be more diverse. It shows that a whopping 44% of partners at firms in the magic and silver circle attended Oxbridge, while 34% went to one of the 22 other Russell Group universities, and 22% graduated from a non-Russell Group uni. Masaryk University; is it worth going as an international student? Oxbridge, Durham and LSE dominate the US/Magic circle so that's hardly a surprise but Bristol, Exeter, UCL and Warwick also put up a good show. The graph above implies theres a difference in average earnings between law and non-law grads, so we crunched the numbers and found this: the average NQ salary for non-law students is 72,551, 6% higher than the average NQ salary earned by law grads: 68,406. Advised on the first hostile takeover in the City of London; Arranged the first Eurobond in the 1960s; Introduced one of the first schemes to allow full equity partners to work part-time; First global law firm to open an office in Morocco; The only law firm to be named the most innovative in Europe by the Financial Times 3 times. What do they look for in Slaughter and May training contract candidates? Eight musts for training contract applications, How to succeed at interviews and assessment days, True confessions of a training contract applicant. However, this doesnt mean that they exclusively hire local candidates. Also worth mentioning are Southampton, Edinburgh and Cardiff, which appear almost every year too.