Choosing a University Other Things to Consider. Other firms have since followed suit, in a bid to help remove bias from the process and allow recruiters to focus solely on an individual's qualities and responses. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Don't get lazy and assume you've made it: the name of your university is not an elixir that will impel recruiters to hand you a training contract. 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. The schemes gave me invaluable insight into working in a law firm, and the different practice areas that were on offer. Also, at the time the term was coined, the corporate practice at Herbert Smith (as it was known pre-merger) was focused on privatisation work, which had dried up. 806 8067 22 Registered Office: Imperial House, 2nd Floor, 40-42 Queens Road, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 3XB, Taking a break or withdrawing from your course, http://www.chambersstudent.co.uk/where-to-start/newsletter/law-firms-preferred-universities, http://www.chambersstudent.co.uk/media/1067/what_is_a_good_university.pdf. Applying for Clifford Chance's Training Contract [2023] - WikiJob Wondering what the salary is like for a Magic Circle trainee? Take our new Which Magic Circle Law Firm is Right For Me? Allen & Overy. Axa warns burnout is burning a hole the economy, From cow herder to corporate chief meet the man who leads Axas City division. 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. You don't have to go to a top university (and by your definition the 'only top unis are Oxbridge') to work at a top law firm. All the resources you need to research law firms and barristers' chambers, which struggle themselves with a bias towards the privileged. Quiz now! how they beat every UK university in the salaries table, To find out about qualifying as a lawyer from overseas, read on>>. Out of these, Oxford and Cambridge came out on top, together accounting for almost a fifth of trainees surveyed. TSR Decisions Drop In 17th April - 5th May. PGDL? We also encountered more overseas graduates than we did across the separate regions. James is a dual-qualified practitioner in both civil law (an advocate in Indonesia) and common law legal systems (a solicitor in England & Wales). If you mill about for three years, get poor grades and put no thought into your future legal career, then don't expect a flood of training contract offers. The impressive growth of law firms expanding their coverage across the United States. This cookie is set by doubleclick.net. 9 things that aspiring magic circle lawyers should be doing to secure a This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. But that doesn't mean, say, an Imperial chemistry graduate would be less likely to get a training contract than a Nottingham geography graduate. Almost a third of lawyers at the UK's elite Magic Circle law firms attended Oxford or Cambridge universities, new data published today shows. But this is the UK, where judging people on their university is pretty much mandatory in the legal profession especially. See more. The cookie is set by the email marketing service MailChimp. We rarely encountered overseas graduates at the regional firms we researched. What's more, non-Russell Group trainees popped up in all of our categories. From Jamaica to Australia, from Brazil to Ukraine: our interviewees in this category came from all over the world. Between 2013 and 2015 we interviewed over 2,300 trainees for our True Picture reviews. Just take a look at our table below: What do they look for in Allen & Overy training contract candidates? But there are new discoveries, and questions you should ask, like what this tells us about the firms, what your prospects are and who your colleagues will be, and then deeper concerns arise about social mobility in the law. Solicitor Apprenticeships are one such example, and are an alternative to attending university, meaning that you can get started with a legal career without even attending university. However, entry into the Magic Circle is . That seems big and it is but its down 5% from our previous survey of the years 2013-2015, although over nine years weve witnessed a 3% drop in the Russell Groups dominance. . Since employability is a factor in a universitys status and funding, this is a convenient relationship for both the firms and the universities, so its hard to break.. But even these firms do not specify a particular university. Read our comprehensive guide on Training Contracts. The cookie is used to calculate visitor, session, campaign data and keep track of site usage for the site's analytics report. They are the five UK-based firms considered to be amongst the most prestigious in the world. Organisations are beginning to recognise that talent is found everywhere not just in the most prestigious universities, which struggle themselves with a bias towards the privileged. London is a global legal hub only rivalled by New York. However, almost 30% of our overseas sources gained their degree in the Republic of Ireland. Durham is the best out of your choices, but all will be fine, all are Russell Group and are visited by the magic circle firms. With law firms starting to become more open minded about university background, we're hoping that the next time we crunch our numbers well see a greater number of universities represented. Out of all the Oxford and Cambridge graduates we interviewed, over 80% bagged a contract at a City firm. The order of universities changes depending on the market and region of the UK. The remaining Russell Group universities were also represented strongly, while interviewees from other UK universities were comparatively low. Nearly one in four of our London interviewees had an Oxbridge degree. The university superduo dominated the US and magic circle firms in particular: 24% of all US firm trainees and 31% of all magic circle trainees hailed . (Flip to the next page to read the full memo from Linklaters.) It merged with Bruckhaus Westrick Heller Lober and Deringer Tessin Herrmann & Sedemund in 2000; Relevant experience in one or more of their practice areas. Prestigious law firms lock their gaze on graduates from these prestigious universities, knowing they dont have to look far for the brightest and most driven candidates. Those winning a hotly contested training contract at a Magic Circle firm can expect to be richly rewarded, with all five firms increasing compensation for newly qualified lawyers to over 100,000 this summer. Number of Individuals Rankings in Chambers USA. Furthermore, given some suggestions that Clifford Chance and Linklaters will follow their compatriots' lead in stateside expansion, alongside the novel options for local hiring and remote work in the post-pandemic world, it appears that this trend will only continue going forwards. While that's a small portion of the overall number of interviewees, the point is that graduates from these universities were still able to get training contracts. The term was coined by The Lawyer magazine in 2005 in response to the pre-existing term, Magic Circle. Adjusting for this would have to consider the size of law courses, proportion of law and non-law, and wed just get bogged down. To work in a Silver/Magic Circle law firm, do you need to have - Quora Linklaters. The coloured arrows indicate rises or falls compared to our 2012 survey. 1. Got questions about the SQE? There are grads from Oxbridge, Durham, Nottingham, Brum, Cardiff, Bristol, Leeds, UCL, LSE, Kings, Sheffield, York, Newcastle, Exeter and tons more from different universities within the UK working at top law firms. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It is the Official: Aston University A100 2023 Entry Applicant and Offer Holder thread, Close to a thousand experts unite behind statement that rejects zealotry of plant-b, Official University of the Arts London 2023 Applicants Thread, Official King's College London 2023 Applicants Thread, Official Oxford 2023 Postgraduate Applicants Thread, will university find out in future if someone uses CHATGPT, Parents are upset I've not found a bf and had a baby yet at 19. So this analysis isnt definitive, but our sample size is significant and indicative of broad recruitment trends. The Russell Group (including Oxbridge) supplied 76.5% of trainee lawyers. The Magic Circle is an informal term describing the five most prestigious London-headquartered multinational law firms, which generally outperform the rest of the London law firms on profitability.The term has also been used to describe the most prestigious barristers' chambers in London. Meanwhile, Allen & Overy also saw the arrivals of Paul Keller and Adam Sofen in 2020, from Norton Rose Fulbright and Sullivan & Cromwell respectively, while Clifford Chance added Department of Justice antitrust chief Peter Mucchetti and Linklaters welcomed Schulte Roth investment funds partner Brad Caswell last year. Visit the guide page below for more information. What do they look for in Slaughter and May training contract candidates? You'll notice that the Midlands and Northern-based Russell Group universities did particularly well here. Kings - English law and French law degree, Law Applicants 2023 entry - discussion thread, HKU-UCL, KCL-CUHK, Exeter-CUHK Law interviews, Cambridge Sixth Form Law Conference 2023 (CSFLC). There were over 107 UK universities mentioned in our data from 2010-2018. Statistically speaking, lawyers at the top firms are most commonly from Oxbridge and other Russell Group universities. This cookie is set when an AdsWizz website visitor have opted out the collection of information by AdsWizz service or opted to disable the targeted ads by AdsWizz. As readers will of course know, the magic circle comprises Linklaters, Slaughter and May, Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance and Freshfields. In essence, the silver circle refers to the band of firms that fall just . 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. Select the law schools youd like to hear from. Law School in UK top 5 for law firms' preferred universities Compared to our regional breakdowns, we saw a greater percentage of Russell Group-educated trainees, and fewer from other UK universities. We also found that London attracted the highest proportion of overseas graduates. If you're considering where to complete your undergraduate degree, do not let the results of this report override key considerations: a particular course youre passionate about; doors open to you by pursuing a certain course; a locations appeal and the accompanying cost of living; how close by your parents should be; the social life and your general happiness. What do they look for in Clifford Chance training contract candidates? All some of the top lawyers working for their respective law firms. [1] The members of the Club of Nine had an informal "no-poaching" agreement and the firm's senior partners would meet. [19] Similarly, in 2014, Linklaters then managing partner, Simon Davies, said "The Magic Circle isnt what it used to be in the context of the US market or any market. This domain of this cookie is owned by Vimeo. War for talent among lawyers as US 'white shoe' firms step up presence 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. But who are the Magic Circle law firms? I don't know where the term came from or who founded it. However, this doesnt mean that they exclusively hire local candidates. How many we interview depends on the size of the firm - we might talk to every trainee a smaller firm has, and maybe as many as 20 in the magic circle firms.
