This makes sense, as the firm’s largest areas of focus are corporate law (including mergers and acquisitions), banking, finance and capital markets. Another consistent top earner, Linklaters has ranked in the top five law firms in the world by earnings in several recent years and counts more FTSE 100 companies among its clientele than any other firm in the UK. The firm has 29 offices in 20 countries around the world, and has over 2,600 Lawyers on its books.

The oldest member of the Magic Circle that’s still in its original form, Linklaters was founded in 1838 under the name of Dods & Linklaters. The firm represents a number of different interests, including financial institutions, governments and a variety of corporations (both national and international). With 28 offices around the world, including offices in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North America, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer employs over 2,500 Lawyers and has approximately 5,500 total employees. This size definitely works to the firm’s benefit, as Clifford Chance was the third-highest-grossing law firm in the world in 2012 and has recorded £1.360 billion in earnings for the 2013/2014 fiscal year.Īnother merged firm, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer was created in 2000 when the UK law firm Freshfields merged with the German firm Deringer Tessin Herrmann & Sedemund and the German-Austrian firm Bruckhaus Westrick Heller Löber. With approximately 3,600 Lawyers, Clifford Chance is the largest employer of Lawyers in the Magic Circle. This coverage has helped Allen & Overy consistently rank in the top ten law firms in the world by earnings.Ĭreated in 1987 when the firms Clifford Turner and Coward Chance merged, Clifford Chance has 35 offices around the world in 25 countries. With 43 offices located in 30 countries and over 2,800 Lawyers in its employ (including over 500 partners), Allen & Overy has the largest overall coverage of any Magic Circle firm. Here are the five members of the Magic Circle, as well as some information on what makes each one so special.įounded in 1930, Allen & Overy is the youngest firm in the Magic Circle that didn’t result from a merger. Although some of the firms traditionally rank among the top earners in the world each year, all of them command the respect of clients around the world. All five are headquartered within the UK itself with offices around the world. The Magic Circle are a group of five firms that are considered to be the leading law firms in the UK. Whereas “the Magic Circle” may not be the official name of the group of UK law firms that the term denotes, there is definitely some magic surrounding the firms.

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