Magic Circle (law firms)

For other uses, see Magic Circle (disambiguation).

The Magic Circle is an informal term for what are generally considered the five leading law firms headquartered in the United Kingdom,[1][2][3] and the four or five leading London-based commercial barristers' chambers.

Law firms

The five law firms generally regarded as constituting the Magic Circle are:[2][4]

These firms are generally regarded as being the most prestigious law firms headquartered in the UK, and consistently have among the highest earnings per-partner and earnings per-lawyer of UK-headquartered law firms.

In 2016 four members of the Magic Circle were among the ten largest law firms in the world measured by revenues, with Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Allen & Overy, and Linklaters respectively the sixth-largest, seventh-largest, ninth-largest and tenth-largest by this measurement.[5] In 2016 Slaughter and May was the 48th-largest law firm in the world by this measure, with revenues of $793.2m.[5]

10 largest law firms in the world measured by 2015 revenue
Rank Firm Revenues Location of headquarters
1 Latham & Watkins $2.65b United States
2 Baker & McKenzie $2.62b United States
3 DLA Piper $2.54b United States/United Kingdom
4 Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom $2.41b United States
5 Kirkland & Ellis $2.3b United States
6 Clifford Chance $2.11b United Kingdom
7 Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer $2.03b United Kingdom
8 Dentons $2.03b United States
9 Allen & Overy $2.02b United Kingdom
10 Linklaters $2.01b United Kingdom

Those UK-headquartered firms commonly regarded as the main competitors of the Magic Circle are sometimes referred to as the "Silver Circle"; these firms are generally smaller than the members of the Magic Circle in revenues, but also have a level of earnings per-partner and earnings per-lawyer which are far above the average for UK-based law firms.[6][7]

10 largest UK-based law firms measured by 2013 worldwide revenues[8]
Rank Firm Revenues
1 DLA Piper £1,566,300,000
2 Clifford Chance £1,359,000,000
3 Linklaters £1,255,100,000
4 Allen & Overy £1,234,300,000
5 Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer £1,232,000,000
6 Norton Rose Fulbright £1,152,000,000
7 Hogan Lovells £1,098,000,000
8 Herbert Smith Freehills £800,000,000
9 Dentons £807,300,000
10 CMS £710,400,000

Barristers' chambers

The following barristers' chambers are often described as constituting the Bar's Magic Circle:[9][10]

Rankings

See also

References

  1. ↑ 'Different types of law firm'
  2. 1 2 "Clifford Chance Is Top U.K. Law Firm as Revenue Falls". Bloomberg Businessweek. 8 July 2010. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
  3. ↑ "It's a kind of magic". The Law Gazette. 21 May 2004. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
  4. ↑ LawBritannia Legal Glossary: Online UK Law Careers Counselling
  5. 1 2 "Global 100 2016". Legal Business. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  6. ↑ "Silver Circle". The Lawyer. 3 September 2007. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  7. ↑ "'Silver circle' firms upset the legal order". The Times. 28 August 2005. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  8. ↑ "LB100 2014: The Main Table". Legal Business. 2 September 2014. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  9. ↑ http://www.thelawyer.com/magic-circle-sets-dominate-commercial-bar-with-solid-revenue-growth-in-201314/ Magic circle sets dominate commercial bar with solid revenue growth in 2013/14
  10. ↑ Set for a fight - 26 June 2000
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/28/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.