Magic Circle (law firms)

The term was coined by legal reporters in the 1990s[1] and is generally considered to include the following five law firms: A&O Shearman, Clifford Chance, Freshfields, Linklaters, and Slaughter and May.

Initially, the Magic Circle's membership was described by commentators as comprising the UK firms with strong corporate practices or international work.

[5][6] In 2017 The Lawyer magazine stated that it no longer considered Slaughter and May to form part of the Magic Circle due to its lower revenues and UK domestic focus.

London-centric, sky-high PEP, top-tier work, an aura of prestige: Slaughter and May is far more like Macfarlanes than the Magic Circle quartet it is commonly lumped in with.

To put it in the same category as Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Freshfields and Linklaters would be inaccurate, and to say it is in a class of its own is frankly showing the firm too much deference.

[9][10][11][12] Among the large firms not included in the term are Herbert Smith Freehills; Hogan Lovells; Norton Rose Fulbright; and Stephenson Harwood, which are less profitable.

[17][18][19] In 2013, The Lawyer argued that the term Magic Circle would lose its relevance, becoming "outmoded": "It will remain an easy shorthand to denote the UK-heritage firms with the biggest revenues, the most international work and which consistently outperform the rest of the [UK] market on profitability."

]Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton; Davis Polk & Wardwell;Kirkland & Ellis; White & Case; Latham & Watkins; Simpson Thacher & Bartlett; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; Sidley Austin; and Weil, Gotshal & Manges.

CMS; Ashurst; Baker McKenzie; DLA Piper; Hogan Lovells; Jones Day; King & Wood Mallesons and Norton Rose Fulbright.

Cravath, Swaine & Moore; Sullivan & Cromwell; Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison; Slaughter and May; and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.