The Big Six is a term that has traditionally referred to the six largest Australian law firms, as assessed by revenue and lawyer head count.
Following implementation of the Commonwealth Companies Act 1981 and its nationally-adopted "cooperative" ownership regulations, Australian law firms were permitted to operate nationwide.
[23] In 2013, King & Wood Mallesons further merged with London-headquartered Silver Circle law firm SJ Berwin,[24] although that practice ceased operations in 2017.
The full financial merger created a single, global firm called Herbert Smith Freehills.
[30][31] The Magic Circle is an informal term for UK-headquartered law firms with the largest revenues, the most international work and which consistently outperform the rest of the UK market on profitability.
The guide shows that those practice groups that operate at an elite, or 'band one', level are concentrated in three firms: Freehills, Allens Arthur Robinson and Mallesons Stephen Jaques."
[...]"From next week, Mallesons will enter a Swiss-style verein with China's King & Wood and become King & Wood Mallesons; Freehills is in the first stages of talks about a link with global giant Herbert Smith; and fourth-ranked Blake Dawson will next week adopt the name of its international alliance partner, Ashurst."