Change hits global elite

The grip of the Magic Circle is weakening, a leading ranking index has found.

Baker & McKenzie topped Acritas’ Sharplegal Global Elite Brand Index for the third consecutive year. It was followed by Freshfields, Linklaters, Clifford Chance, DLA Piper, Allen & Overy, Skadden, Hogan Lovells, Norton Rose and White & Case.

However, the index found that the landscape of law firm dominance is changing as competitive smaller firms with “truly global footprints and a client-focused approach” close in.

“Challenger brands” are emerging to take their place among the dominant law firms. This is due to the economic downturn placing financial pressures on clients, client dissatisfaction with the traditional hourly rate billing system, client demand for cost-effective solutions such as offshoring, and increasing demand for international legal advice.

Consequently, those firms that invested in growth through mergers and international expansion, hiring, technical advancements, better client management and client feedback programmes are reaping the reward.

The index is based on interviews with more than 1,000 senior general counsel in $1bn+ revenue multinationals who ranked firms according to awareness, favourability, multi-jurisdictional deals and multi-jurisdictional litigation.