Do you know your Linklaters from your Halliwells? Try our guide to five top UK law firms.
Law firm names don’t tell you a lot. They range from the appropriate, like Laws & Lawson, to the ridiculous, like the American firm Ziffren, Brittenham, Branca, Fischer, Gilbert-Lurie, Stiffelman, Cook, Johnson, Lande & Wolf.
This guide to the top UK law firms will help you get under the surface and find out what really matters.
Clifford Chance is the largest law firm in the world, and is ranked by the Times Top 100 Graduate Employers as the best UK law firm to work for.
It is a member of the “Magic Circle”, a group of the five leading London law firms.
The firm operates across the world, giving employees opportunities to work in other countries. It was the first major law firm from outside the US to practise US law.
Clifford Chance runs a paid four-week summer scheme which, like their trainee process, is open to students of any subject.
Linklaters is another Magic Circle firm and the second largest in the world.
The legal guide Chambers and Partners, which ranks law firms on individual practice areas, gives Linklaters its top rating in over fifty categories – more than any other firm in the world!
Nearly half of Linklaters’ trainees are non-law graduates, and the firm offers work experience schemes for both law- and non-law students.
Major firms aren’t all London-based. Leeds-based Walker Morris is one of the largest and most successful UK law firms outside London.
Being outside the capital doesn’t restrict the firm’s client base, though: more than 70% of its clients are from outside the Leeds region.
The firm is based in a single building and has an open-door policy, so employees can easily seek advice and career information from their colleagues.
Walker Morris recruits both law- and non-law graduates as trainees. It offers shorter placements than most firms to allow trainees to experience a greater range of practices.
Another option for those looking to avoid London is a national law firm. Manchester-based Halliwells has offices in Manchester, Liverpool, London and Sheffield.
Trainees can be based in any of these offices, and a summer placement scheme also operates at all four sites.
Halliwells careers
Halliwells summer placements
Most of the firms above deal mainly with civil law, but there are large law firms which deal with criminal law. Kingsley Napley is one of the biggest of these. It has defended high-profile clients ranging from General Pinochet to the parents of Madeleine McCann.
The firm offers five trainee positions each year.
What will you look for when choosing a law firm? Share your thoughts in the comments box below.
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