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Theoffshore magic circle is the set of the largest multi-jurisdictionallaw firms who specialise inoffshore financial centres, especially the laws of theBritish Overseas Territories ofBermuda,Cayman Islands, andBritish Virgin Islands, and theCrown dependencies ofJersey,Guernsey andThe Isle of Man.

The same firms are also increasingly advising on the laws of onshore financial centres, especiallyIreland andLuxembourg.^[1]

The term is a derivation of the widely recognised London 'magic circle' of top law firms, and is widely used in the offshore legal industry.^[2][3][4][5] The term has also become used to describe the offshore legal industry in a more pejorative sense (e.g. when the general media reports onParadise Papers–type offshore financial scandals),^[6][7][8][9] and is therefore more sparingly used, or found, in major legal publications (e.g.Legal Business).

There is no consensus definition over which firms belong in the offshore magic circle. A 2008 article in the publicationLegal Business (Issue 181,Offshore Review, February 2008) suggested a list, which has been repeated by others,^[10] and is simply the top 10 offshore law firms, but excluding Gibraltar–specialistHassans.^[11][a]

• 
  Maples and Calder is the largest offshore law firm by number of lawyers.
• 
  Head offices ofHarney Westwood & Riegels.
• 
  Walkers' head office in the Cayman Islands

In the wider legal community, it has been suggested that the 'magic circle' label for offshore firms is self-promoting. Not only does the group suggested byLegal Business seem large (with nine firms, as opposed to the five firms in the original Londonmagic circle), but it also appears to contain a fairly high percentage of all the specialist offshore law firms, including almost all the significantChannel Islands firms.^[11]

The major offshore firms do not use the 'magic circle' terminology. Edward Fennell, a legal columnist forThe Times, has expressed dim views of law firms designating themselves as part of an offshore magic circle.^[12] However, the concept of an offshore magic circle is actively promoted by legalrecruitment consultants who hope to persuade London lawyers to spend a few years working in an offshore jurisdiction.^[10]

TheChambers legal directory in its 2008 edition, recognised the move towards multi-jurisdictional specialist offshore firms, and included a new ranking for global offshore specialist firms, rather than by jurisdiction.^[13] Arguably this was the first defined "offshore magic circle", although the directory did not use the term.

ThatChambers list included the same names as the list produced by "Legal Business" in its 2008Offshore Review article. In addition,Chambers stated that single-jurisdiction offshore specialist firms (e.g.Hassans), no matter how good, would not be considered in this new Global – Offshore category.^[14]

The Lawyer magazine produces a list of the top twenty offshore law firms by number of partners, published each February.^[15]

The following table sets out the offshore jurisdictions in which the principal multi-jurisdictional offshore firms practise law (correct as of March 2020). The table does not list 'sales' offices, where the firms do not practise the local law (typically, they will have an office in London, Zurich, and/or other large onshore centres, but will not practise English or Swiss law). However, Ireland and Luxembourg are included in this table, as several firms have moved into practising law in those two "midshore" jurisdictions, especially with regards funds, where they compete with large onshore firms likeMatheson.

* 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.

• Chambers Law Firms OFFSHORE – GLOBAL–WIDE
• Ifcforum.org

• Offshore magic circle
• Offshore law firms
• Law firms

• All articles with dead external links
• Articles with dead external links from September 2024
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• Use dmy dates from April 2022