The Magic Circle. It has a nice ring to it doesn’t it? The U.K. legal industry has been largely defined by the existence of the five top firms for decades. But perhaps it is time we reconsidered the term.

Everyone knows what the Magic Circle means. It means Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters and Slaughter and May; it means the dominant firms in the U.K. and Europe and beyond; it means the largest, most profitable, highest-quality institutions outside the United States.