Magic Circle Law Firms

The Magic Circle is the informal label for the five London-headquartered firms that have historically dominated high-value international work for UK corporates and banks: Clifford Chance, Freshfields, Linklaters, Slaughter and May, and A&O Shearman. Each offers a two-year training contract with four six-month seats, NQ salaries around £150,000, and intake sizes of roughly 80 to 120 trainees per year. Magic Circle applications close early (usually summer of the year before the vacation scheme), assessment centres are competitive, and successful candidates tend to come through a penultimate-year vacation scheme rather than the direct training contract route. If you are targeting London-based transactional work, corporate M&A, finance, or disputes at scale, these are the firms most students mean when they talk about the "top" UK market. A&O Shearman asked Folio not to host a profile on the platform, so only four Magic Circle profiles appear below; the firm is still part of the industry grouping.

4 firms on Folio