White & Case or Magic Circle?

[Mentor055]

Hey everyone,

I hope you're all doing well!

I'm delighted to share that I’ve been offered a solicitor apprenticeship at White & Case, which I’m planning to accept! However, I’ve also received final assessment centre invitations from Freshfields, Slaughter and May, and Allen & Overy. Everyone I’ve spoken to has said it would be unwise to turn down a Magic Circle assessment centre in favour of White & Case, given the greater prestige of the Magic Circle firms.

Could anyone shed some light on this? I’m particularly interested in international work, especially international arbitration, though I appreciate my interests may evolve over time. My long-term goal is to become a solicitor advocate and, eventually, a KC. I know this isn’t the traditional route, as it’s typically pursued by barristers, but I’m aware of some solicitor advocates who have been successful, so I’m managing my expectations.

I’d really appreciate any advice or guidance, as I don’t know many people in the legal field!

Thanks so much!

 

[Jessica Booker]

First of all, congratulations on securing such a competitive solicitor apprenticeship!

In my opinion, there isn't really a difference in prestige in terms of the MC firms and US firms like White & Case. White & Case has a large presence in London, a large early careers (trainee and apprentices) intake each year, and therefore it operates in many similar ways to the MC firms. The prestige difference is something that could be said of 20 years ago when I started in Graduate Recruitment - then there really were five distinct firms and the rest were just not as sophisticated or large in London. But a lot has changed in the last 20 years - US firms have flooded into the UK and we have seen a lot of global mergers meaning many more international firms are equal competitors to the MC firms.

A&O Shearman, White & Case and Freshfields all have a similar ranking for International Arbitration in the UK (rank 2). Slaughters is probably the firm with less exposure to international arbitration, but that is down to it being less international itself. It ranks in band 6, so is still going to get good work, just not the same frequency or complexity as the other three firms you are considering.

 

[eddyjim]

It's a tough call with the Magic Circle firms, though. They definitely have more prestige, but White & Case is strong in international work. If that's your passion, it might be a better fit.