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Does anyone know anything about the Magic Circle Firms in the U.S.? How do they compare to the other firms domestic-based firms? Particularly interested in Linklaters, Freshfields, and Clifford Chance.

MC firms will expose you predominantly to cross border and multi-jurisdictional matters. Since these firms have a very strong presence globally, you will get to work on cases arising out of any country/jurisdiction as long as there is a US law component to them. You will get to develop an eye for anticipating and managing various legal and non-legal issues that can occur when multiple parties from a wide array of jurisdictions are involved. For this, the more strongly integrated the offices around the globe are, the better the experience would be. AFAIK, this is the case for Freshfields and Linklaters, and A&O maybe to a slightly lesser extent. Not too sure about CC. Freshfields seems to be particularly strong in international arbitration. Overall, I would say that when it comes to specific practice areas (e.g. M&A, Capital Markets, Finance, etc.), domestic firms are stronger and hence their higher ranking (e.g. vault), but if you are seriously interested in international work as described above and in seconding or moving abroad down the line, MC firms can be a better option.

If you're interested in litigation/arbitration with cross-border or foreign law elements, Freshfields is excellent. That kind of work appears at other top lit practices in NYC, but with less frequency, and Freshfields is viewed as a specialist. Of course, this is quite a niche interest, so you have to know it's what you want.