We don't describe ourselves as a Magic Circle firm in any of our marketing material." Linklaters' then head of corporate, David Cheyne, said: "City law firms years ago used to provide information to each other so they could keep in touch with what was going on, but that ended yonks ago. It's mainly something that comes up when we talk to journalists or they talk to us. I don't know where the term came from or who founded it. In 2004, Slaughter and May's then senior partner, Tim Clark, said: "It's a funny concept. Generally, the Magic Circle firms have among the highest earnings-per-partner and earnings-per-lawyer of UK-headquartered law firms. ![]() At the time, these firms were Allen & Overy Clifford Chance Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Linklaters and Slaughter and May. Initially, the Magic Circle's membership was described by commentators as comprising the UK firms with strong corporate practices or international work. In contrast to the Club of Nine, the Magic Circle is no informal grouping of law firms. In 1996, Stephenson Harwood was asked to leave the Club of Nine due to its stagnant performance, and the Club was disbanded in 2000. The members of the Club of Nine had an informal "no-poaching" agreement and the firm's senior partners would meet. The Club of Nine was an informal group of law firms that comprised Allen & Overy Clifford Chance Freshfields (now Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer) Herbert Smith (now Herbert Smith Freehills) Linklaters Lovells (now Hogan Lovells) Norton Rose (now Norton Rose Fulbright) Slaughter and May and Stephenson Harwood. ![]() The Magic Circle has been termed a "journalistic device, coined by legal reporters in the wake of the break-up of its predecessor, the 'Club of Nine'". Clifford Chance is headquartered in Canary Wharf.
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