Silver Circle (law)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Silver Circle (sometimes referred to as the Golden Circle) refers to elite English based law firms which fall outside of the traditional Magic Circle. The term was coined by The Lawyer magazine in 2005, but has since entered general usage. The term Golden Circle is less commonly used (although the term is reportedly employed by The Economist, a leading British weekly magazine) and it has been reported that the term Golden Circle was first used by Herbert Smith who considered a concept of a Silver Circle derogatory, and issued a PR statement indicating huffily that the firm considered itself alone to be within a Golden Circle of six alongside the original Magic Circle.[1]
It has been suggested that the difference between the Silver Circle and the traditional Magic Circle is that the Silver Circle services a premium UK client base, whereas the Magic Circle has international reach. However, that is clearly difficult to square when firms like Herbert Smith and DLA Piper form part of the Silver Circle.
As with all arbitrary categorisations of merit, there is some disagreement as to who makes up the Silver Circle. However,
The most restrictive interpretation of the Silver Circle limits it to:[2]
- Ashurst
- Herbert Smith
- Macfarlanes
- SJ Berwin
- Travers Smith
and, arguably,
- Berwin Leighton Paisner
Others suggest a wider array of firms, including:
- Clyde & Co
- DLA Piper
- CMS Cameron McKenna
- Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw
- Taylor Wessing
- Wragge & Co
- Lovells
- Simmons & Simmons
- Norton Rose
- Pinsent Masons
and even possibly:
- Addleshaw Goddard
- Nabarro Nathanson
- Olswang
- Eversheds
- Denton Wilde Sapte
As with most self awarded titles for law firms, Silver Circle tends to be used only in recruiting and marketing material. A wealth of data is published every year on financial performance of law firms, and categorisations are in reality a matter largely of perception.
The list is entirely English-oriented. Leading Scottish firms, particularly Dickson Minto have comparable profits per equity partner of any firm listed in the Silver Circle, although are never traditionally considered as forming part of the list.
