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The offshore magic circle consists of the leading law firms practicing in offshore jurisdictions. The term was adopted as an imitation of the more well-recognised London Magic Circle law firms. The concept of an offshore magic circle was first suggested in the wake of a series of cross-jurisdictional mergers and expansions by various firms.
Contents
Although there is some disagreement over exactly who should constitute the offshore magic circle, an article in 2008 in Legal Business suggested that an offshore magic circle might constitute the following firms:
In terms of lawyer numbers, those firms constitute nine of the ten largest offshore law firms.
Criticism
In the wider legal community, it has been suggested that the 'magic circle' label is a little self-aggrandising. Not only does the group suggested by Legal Business seem fairly big (with nine firms, as opposed to the five firms in the original magic circle) but it also appears to contain a fairly high percentage of the total number of offshore firms, including almost all the significant Channel Islands firms.
The major offshore firms recognise this criticism and do not use the 'magic circle' terminology. Edward Fennell, a legal columnist for The Times, has expressed slightly irreverent views of law firms designating themselves as part of an offshore magic circle. However, the concept of an offshore magic circle has gone down very well with some of the smaller firms involved, and the phrase is actively promoted by legal recruitment consultants who earn substantial fees by persuading city lawyers to spend a few years working in an offshore jurisdiction.
Endorsement
Although not expressly endorsing the term, the Chambers legal directory in its 2008 edition recognised the move towards multi-jurisdictional offshore firms, and including a new ranking for offshore firms globally rather than by jurisdiction. Arguably this was the first formal attempt to frame a defined offshore magic circle, although the directory pointedly did not use the term.
That list included all the same names as the list produced by Legal Business for the putative offshore magic circle. The directory expressly stated that single-jurisdiction firms, no matter how good, would not be considered.
The Lawyer magazine produces a list of the top twenty offshore law firms by number of partners, published each February.
Multi-jurisdiction firms
The following table sets out the offshore jurisdictions in which the principal multi-jurisdictional offshore firms have offices (correct as at June 2012). The table does not list "sales" offices, such London, Zurich, Dubai or Hong Kong. Dublin is included in this table due to the move of Maples and Walkers into the "onshore" market where they now compete with the Irish law firms.
* Carey Olsen was formed by the merger of two roughly equivalent sized firms from Jersey and Guernsey. Mourant Ozannes was formed by a merger of firms from Jersey, Guernsey and the Cayman Islands.