"Magic Circle" is an informal term describing the five most prestigious London-headquartered multinational law firms, which generally outperform the rest of the London law firms on profitability. The term has also been used to describe the most prestigious barristers' chambers in London. All of the 'Magic Circle' law firms and barristers' chambers specialise primarily in corporate law.
MinterEllison is a multinational law firm, and professional services firm, based in Australia. The firm has thirteen offices and operates in five countries. By number of lawyers it is the largest law firm in Australia.
David Kingsley Malcolm, AC, QC was the Chief Justice of Western Australia from May 1988 until his retirement from the bench in February 2006. He was also an expatriate justice of the Supreme Court of Fiji.
Ashurst is a British multinational law firm headquartered in London. It has 27 offices in 15 countries apart from the United Kingdom, across Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and North America, and employs around 1,600 legal advisers. Ashurst is 55th in the list of 100 largest law firms in the world by revenue, and 8th in the list of largest UK law firms by revenue.
Herbert Smith LLP was a multinational law firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. The firm was founded in the City of London in 1882 by Norman Herbert Smith and merged with the Australian law firm Freehills on 1 October 2012, forming Herbert Smith Freehills. At the time of the merger it had 13 offices across Europe, the Middle East and Asia, around 240 partners and 1,300 fee-earners. It was regarded as forming part of the "Silver Circle" of leading British law firms.
HFW is a global, sector-focused law firm providing services to businesses in aerospace, commodities, construction, energy and resources, insurance and reinsurance, and shipping. The firm was founded in 1883 and now has more than 600 lawyers, including 170 partners, based in 20 offices across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia.
The Silver Circle is a group of elite corporate law firms headquartered in London that has evolved significantly as the UK legal market has been affected by globalisation and mergers. The law firms generally described by The Lawyer magazine as comprising the Silver Circle were historically Ashurst, Herbert Smith, Macfarlanes, SJ Berwin and Travers Smith.
Sir Stephen Henry Parker was a lawyer and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia from 1906 to 1914.
Corrs Chambers Westgarth is an Australian commercial law firm founded in 1841. Corrs has offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Port Moresby.
Robert Baxt was an Australian lawyer and a chairman of the Trade Practices Commission, dean of law at Monash University and a professorial fellow of the University of Melbourne.
The Big Six is a term that has traditionally referred to the six largest Australian law firms, as assessed by revenue and lawyer head count. From the mid-1980s, the phrase was in regular use to distinguish the largest Australian firms, collectively, from their smaller competitors. While informal, it was a widely-used descriptor, appearing in news items, industry commentary and scholarly articles.
Ashurst Australia is the Australian branch of Ashurst LLP, an international commercial law firm. The Australian headquarters of Ashurst are in Sydney.
Michael John Back is an Australian lawyer. He is a senior partner of Herbert Smith Freehills and head of their Brisbane, Queensland office. He is an environmental and planning law specialist.
King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) is an international commercial law firm based in Asia-Pacific. It is the largest international law firm in Asia-Pacific. It has 26 offices and more than 3,000 legal professionals across Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the United States.
Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) is an international law firm with headquarters in London, England and Sydney, Australia. HSF has been widely acknowledged as one of the world's most elite and selective law firms, and, as of 2021, was the 33rd largest by revenue. It was formed on 1 October 2012 by a merger between the United Kingdom-based Herbert Smith, then a member of the Silver Circle of leading UK law firms, and Freehills, one of the Big Six Australian law firms.
The legal services sector of the United Kingdom is a significant part of the national economy; it had a total output of £22.6 billion in 2013, up from 10.6 billion in 2001, and is equivalent to 1.6% of the country's gross domestic product for that year. The sector has a trade surplus is £3.1 billion in 2013 and directly employees 316,000 people, two-thirds of whom are located outside London. The UK is the world's most international market for legal services. It allows virtually unrestricted access for foreign firms, resulting in over 200 foreign law firms with offices in London and other cities in the UK. Around half of these are US firms, with the remainder mainly from Europe, Australia and Canada. The UK legal market has a strong global position due to the popularity of English law. Some 27% of the world's 320 legal jurisdictions use English Common law.
HWL Ebsworth is a commercial law firm that operates throughout Australia. It is the largest partnership among Australian law firms, with 285 partners.
Thomson Geer is an independent Australian commercial law firm founded in 1885. Its predecessor firms included Thomsons Lawyers and Herbert Geer. The firm operates a full commercial law service as a fully integrated national firm with offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Canberra. It is one of the top ten firms in the country by revenue, and the seventh largest firm in Australia by headcount.
Zoe McKenzie is an Australian Liberal politician who has served in the House of Representatives since May 2022, representing the Division of Flinders in Victoria. McKenzie was an industrial relations lawyer, international trade specialist and board director prior to election to the Parliament of Australia on 21 May 2023.
Arnold Bloch Leibler is an Australian law firm headquartered in Melbourne, Australia.
