The Magic Circle of London-headquartered law firms - statistics and facts

The Magic Circle refers to five prestigious and multinational London-headquartered law firms. They are Allen & Overy; Clifford Chance; Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; Linklaters; and Slaughter and May. They have tended to specialize in corporate law and, minus Slaughter and May, all featured in the top ten largest law firms based on revenue in the United Kingdom in 2022. Furthermore, three out of the five firms were ranked as the best law firms in the United Kingdom in the same year. The best law firm rankings were based on a combination of factors including financial and cultural, revenue per lawyer, and pro bono performances.

Financials

When based on annual revenue, Allen & Overy has been the top law firm within the Magic Circle and had an annual turnover of around two billion U.S. dollars over the last several years. Closely behind Allen & Overy were Linklaters. In addition, Clifford Chance had profits per equity partner (PEP) that amounted to approximately two million British pounds annually during the same time period.

Gender representation

As has often been the case when it has come to the diversity of law firms, senior positions have been largely occupied by men, with the Magic Circle being no exception. The gender ratio of the workforce at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, for instance, has shown that men accounted for almost three-quarters of partners working for the firm in 2022. Conversely, administrative roles have been dominated by women, as demonstrated by the Linklaters workforce. In 2022, almost all of the secretary positions at the firm were filled by women.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
Published by Statista Research Department, Feb 29, 2024

Key insights

Turnover of the legal services sector in the United Kingdom
40bn GBP
Revenue of DLA Piper - the largest law firm in the United Kingdom
2.83bn GBP
Share of lawyers who work in the United Kingdom from the largest UK law firms
58%
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