Monday, 24 October 2011

The "Magic Circle."

I first encountered the term "Magic Circle" about a 6 months ago, and as a prospective Law student who knew nothing about the law- the phrase seemed daunting and distant, as it still is today. The term actually refers to a group of five corporate giants; Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Allen & Overy, Linkletters, Clifford Chance and Slaughter & May. These billion pound firms are all Headquartered in London and if you want the big bucks, these are the arses you kiss. 

As much as I hate arse-kissing, I revelled in the fact that I was actually able to talk to the first giant- Freshfields, at Uni on Friday over a glass of wine and various sophisticated snacks. THIS, is what I'm here for. Although God knows how I'm going to convince them I'm in it for more than the money, I'm actually going to fabricate an enthusiasm for the bores of company contracts and corporate bullshit. Because at the end of the day, you can't say no to a graduate training contract of £44'000 a year.

I will admit one thing though. Deep down I think I actually might be a nice person and the fact that they put a huge pressure on employees to get involved in Pro-Bono work, I genuinely think the company might be the perfect match for my split personality of pretentious arsehole and budding missionary, without missing out on the nice clothes. One thing I will miss however, is time off with family, which at the moment is of equal importance to me as a high-paying life-changing Law career.