In addition to our offices in Johannesburg, South Africa, and Casablanca, Morocco, our Africa group includes more than 150 lawyers from across our network of offices located in key hubs in Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and the Americas. Allen & Overy was the first Magic Circle firm to be established in Morocco in 2011 and was also the first global elite law firm to establish a presence in South Africa. Given that American companies are on the heels of the magic circle in the market, surpassing them in terms of salary, it is clear that there is an incipient shift from a British elite to a more distinct global elite. Webber Wentzel is a renowned African law firm headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa. The firm is working in collaboration with another law firm called Linklaters. Webber Wentzel is considered a member of the “Big Five” law firms. Law firms with more than 50 lawyers are generally considered medium-sized law firms. [42] [43] The recorder recognizes California law firms, legal departments and women who are critical to the state`s thriving tech sector. You`ve probably heard of the phrase “the magic circle.” Not to be confused with the wizards` union of the same name, it`s a nickname for an elite group of five London law firms focused on corporate and financial work. The Economist referred to the magic circle as a group of “posh London law firms,” but we think you need a more useful definition than this.
Super boutique firms include Cravath, Swaine & Moore, Debevoise & Plimpton, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, Slaughter and May, and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. [3] Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs is one of the five world-renowned law firms in South Africa. Like their legal work, Magic Circle firms` business strategies tend to be innovative and innovative, for example, when it comes to international expansion, nearshoring or overseas recruitment. It is this motivation that attracts many students to these companies. One Magic Circle intern told us, “The company`s business strategy is very ambitious and it`s in line with how I saw my own career and what I wanted from my own life.” A little about us One of the best personal injury law firms in Los Angeles. To date, our company has recovered over $2,000,000. The Big Five Law Firms is a term used informally in South Africa to refer to law firms that are collectively considered to be the leading law firms based in South Africa. In 2004, Tim Clark, then senior partner at Slaughter and May, said, “It`s a fun concept. I do not know where the term comes from or who founded it. It`s especially something that comes up when we talk to journalists or when they talk to us. We do not refer to ourselves as a Magic Circle company in any of our marketing materials. [2] David Cheyne, then head of the company at Linklaters, said: “Law firms in the city provided each other with information years ago so they could stay in touch with what was going on, but that ended years ago.
That sounds like a term to describe the city`s major businesses, and there`s some truth to that. [2] Henry Raine, then a partner at Herbert Smith Freehills and a former investment banker, said: “The phrase was coined by a law journal and referred to companies that were very strong in corporate or international work. At that time, Herbert Smith was languishing in the stakes of the company and was therefore banished into the outer darkness. [2] If your ambitions are on the lawn of the magic circle, then you`ll be happy to know that winning an internship here isn`t as hard as you might think. In 2014, Freshfields received approximately 2,000 applications for its 90 open internships. Compare that to Bird & Bird, which received the same number of applications for 20 open positions, or the American company Skadden, which received 1,000 applications for only ten jobs. We do not advise you to base important career decisions on these types of statistics, but they should be taken into account. UK law firms, including Magic Circle law firms, have experienced increased competition from US law firms both domestically (US law firms with a presence in the UK) and internationally.
[16] [17] [18] Allen & Overy is a multinational law firm and member of the British Magic Circle, a small group of elite law firms. The South African branch is under the UK-based parent company. In 2019, Allen & Overy was one of two companies to surpass the $1 trillion deal value. It is the 10th largest law firm in the world in terms of turnover. Calling magic circle companies “the best” would be too simple and often wrong. But they are best suited to a specific type of legal work, namely banking, finance, and business – the things the city feeds on. Each has a huge army of lawyers who can spring into action when the corporate giants call it. Lawyers advise the world`s largest and best-known companies on large-scale, transformative business transactions. Law firms included in the Global 100 do not receive a specific ranking. If you look back a few years, you`ll discover even better examples of the particular taste of the magic circle: Clifford Chance starred for Kraft and Slaughters represented Cadbury in the fusion that resulted in a smaller, meaner cream egg; and Freshfields worked to host the London Olympics. When a big deal is announced in the mainstream press, you can be pretty sure that a magic circle company will have to advise at least one of the parties.
If a big bank is involved, it`s almost a dead certificate. Pinsent Masons LLP is an international law firm with an office in South Africa. The company specializes in the energy, infrastructure, financial services, real estate, advanced manufacturing and technology sectors. In terms of turnover, the firm is one of the top hundred law firms in the world. In 2014, it was reported that Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer wanted to drop its Magic Circle designation in the United States in favor of the global elite. [19] Similarly, Simon Davies, then Managing Partner of Linklaters, stated in 2014: “The Magic Circle is no longer what it used to be in the context of the US market or any other market. I don`t think it`s going to gain power or momentum, and I don`t think it`s an enabling brand in itself. ” and “Ultimately, we see ourselves as one of the world`s leading law firms, not one of the leading Magic Circle firms. [20] Note 3: Deney`s Reitz Inc., later Norton Rose Fulbright, were previously considered one of the Big Five law firms.
Due to its decline, Werksmans, which was not one of the big five law firms, took its place. This predictive power can also reduce persistence (or decrease?) Measuring the importance of the magic circle in the future: If there is a time when these companies stop handling mega-transactions, then the term “magic circle” as a distinction would be removed in the same way that “white shoe” has become irrelevant in New York. In the City, we are already seeing large American companies reacting side by side with the magic circle to large global transactions.