UK Magic Circle Firms - What grades are needed? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Current 1L at HYS - What kind of grades are needed for a UK Magic Circle Firm?

I.e. Allen & Overy, clifford chance, freshfields bruckhaus deringer, Linklaters, slaughter and may.

[Anonymous User]

bump

[Old Gregg]

bump

You're not getting Slaughter & May. Top third is good enough for everyone else in London, possibly median too. Median's definitely enough for NYC offices. Foreign language capabilities always a plus. Don't target litigation.

[Anonymous User]

Grades matter much, much less from T6 schools at Magic Circle firms. Rather, they care about 1)Ties to UK, 2) Understanding, interest, and experience relating to capital markets, 3) Some type of international flavor (foreign language, accent, international work experience, having unique color). Don't say "I want M&A" because that is a trap they set-- many of the firms do M&A in NYC. Don't say "I want litigation," because they don't want Americans for litigation. If you still want litigation you can try "I want cross-border arbitration," but that is about as likely to kill your chances as saying "I want entertainment law" in an OMM CC, Quinn, or Irell CC interview (they will only take 3 people to do this stuff).

To reiterate, if I was you (this isn't a joke), I would: Go tanning, learn to speak with cool, different inflection, do some type of cooperative research that allows you to put "Oxford", "Cambridge," or "London School of Economics" on your resume, visit London before OCI and memorize some crazy idiosyncratic things near the Magic Circle offices, start a capital markets or arbitration group at your school, and 1L year do something that would enable you to claim that you understand arbitration or capital markets (eg. work for a small London shop).

A secret backdoor is to split with an international office that you could actually get into (Hong Kong or Dubai).

[Anonymous User]

Depends if you're looking for the NY office or the UK one. For UK the above is right. Want to do capital markets. Show why you're serious about wanting to live in the UK. Honestly though unless you have a pressing need to be in the UK right out of law school, start in NYC at a US firm with a UK office. For NYC I believe median is enough in theory but they look for more. I was top 5% at a T6 at got dinged from the one magic circle NYC office i took a call back with(and I'm a brit).

[Old Gregg]

FYI probably a good idea to stay away from any UK firm that isn't Freshfields or S&M. Did you guys see those layoffs everyone else did? Linklaters is firing partners now...

[dingbat]

Current 1L at HYS - What kind of grades are needed for a UK Magic Circle Firm?

I.e. Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters, Slaughter and May.

Learn the difference between i.e. and e.g.
There are plenty of partners in those firms who are touchy about the English language and you won't be doing yourself any favors making silly mistakes (be mindful of alternate spelling)

[Anonymous User]

FYI probably a good idea to stay away from any UK firm that isn't Freshfields or S&M. Did you guys see those layoffs everyone else did? Linklaters is firing partners now...

S&M doesn't have a US office or to my knowledge do any US law. I did recently meet a S&M trainee doing a 6 month rotation at Wachtell so I guess those two firms do have some sort of exchange relationship but for the most part S&M is out unless you're going to be a UK lawyer.

[LawIdiot86]

Consider good second and third tier UK firms as the top five (four) aren't a sure thing. Herbert Smith and Norton Rose are particularly receptive to SA apps. Also, remember that lots of the top US firms have amazing UK operations (Skadden, S&C, mcguirewoods, etc).

[Old Gregg]

Consider good second and third tier UK firms as the top five (four) aren't a sure thing. Herbert Smith and Norton Rose are particularly receptive to SA apps. Also, remember that lots of the top US firms have amazing UK operations (Skadden, S&C, McGuireWoods, etc).

What? No they don't.

http://www.chambersandpartners.com/UK/Firms/3663-45057

[Anonymous User]

Current 1L at HYS - What kind of grades are needed for a UK Magic Circle Firm?

I.e. Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters, Slaughter and May.

Learn the difference between i.e. and e.g.
There are plenty of partners in those firms who are touchy about the English language and you won't be doing yourself any favors making silly mistakes (be mindful of alternate spelling)

The Magic Circle is the firms that OP listed. --LinkRemoved--)

Learn what you're talking about before coming up with retarded grammar points.

[Old Gregg]

FYI probably a good idea to stay away from any UK firm that isn't Freshfields or S&M. Did you guys see those layoffs everyone else did? Linklaters is firing partners now...

S&M doesn't have a US office or to my knowledge do any US law. I did recently meet a S&M trainee doing a 6 month rotation at Wachtell so I guess those two firms do have some sort of exchange relationship but for the most part S&M is out unless you're going to be a UK lawyer.

IIRC, S&M has a secondment relationship with Davis Polk.

[Old Gregg]

.

[dingbat]

Current 1L at HYS - What kind of grades are needed for a UK Magic Circle Firm?

I.e. Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters, Slaughter and May.

Learn the difference between i.e. and e.g.
There are plenty of partners in those firms who are touchy about the English language and you won't be doing yourself any favors making silly mistakes (be mindful of alternate spelling)

The Magic Circle is the firms that OP listed. --LinkRemoved--)

Learn what you're talking about before coming up with retarded grammar points.

Color me failed