If you are looking for a challenge, thrive on big-city life, and want to make a mint in corporate or commercial law, why not consider joining an international firm?

International firms vary in size from around 400 to well in excess of 1,200 lawyers alone. They are, and need to be, huge, with offices in London, Europe and around the world.

Solicitors in these firms undertake complex and high-value work, often involving million-pound contracts, in areas such as mergers and acquisitions (M&A), banking, finance and corporate law.

The Magic Circle

Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters and Slaughter and May are the five firms which comprise the Magic Circle. They consistently have the highest earnings per-partner and earnings per-solicitor in the UK.

Not so long ago, the Magic Circle had more members. However, these firms have raced ahead of their UK competitors, in terms of profitability, size and global expansion, and none of the remaining UK top-100 firms can currently touch them in the profitability stakes.

Silver Circle firms

When the Magic Circle became more select, a new group sprang up: the Silver Circle. Depending on who you speak to, it is made up of anywhere between five and 21 companies. The strictest definition limits it to Ashurst, Herbert Smith, Macfarlanes, SJ Berwin and Travers Smith.

Silver Circle companies tend to specialise in advising top UK clients.

Typical work for trainees

As well as receiving all the requisite training stipulated by the Law Society, trainees will be involved early on in high-net-worth deals. For example, standard projects in a corporate department involve the buying and selling of businesses and companies for clients, assisting clients with stock exchange listings, M&A and management buy-ins and buy-outs.

While partners may be driving the deals, trainees take on a lot of responsibility too, taking notes at meetings, collating vital information and research and undertaking due diligence in M&A transactions. You must therefore be able to communicate well with your own team members, your clients and solicitors in other firms.

Trainees in international firms can sometimes elect to spend six months in one of their firm’s international offices. This is an amazing opportunity not only to live in another country but also to experience how they carry out their legal affairs.

Consider working for an international firm if you…

• want to undertake complex and high-value work that is international in nature
• would thrive on living and working in the City of London – and possibly further afield (secondments to overseas offices are a common feature of many training contracts in international firms)
• would like to be well rewarded for your work: trainees in international firms are among the highest paid, not only in the legal profession, but also in the graduate sector as a whole
• find the prospect of working with important, international clients on a regular basis attractive and exciting
• want to specialise in work that mainly focuses on corporate and commercial law.

Think again if…

• the idea of living and working in London fills you with dread
• you would like to work in a legal area that is less commercial in nature, eg family or criminal law
• you would prefer to join a firm with fewer lawyers and trainees
• specialising in a particular area of law is more your thing
• you are not willing to put in occasional long hours, possibly all-nighters, in order to pull off an amazing deal.