Offshore magic circle 5636576 220847957 2008-06-21T22:19:17Z Legis 1337739 /* Multi-jurisdiction firms */ alignment [[Image:Walkers law firm (BVI) (2).jpg|right|thumb|200px|The British Virgin Islands office of Walkers.]] The '''offshore magic circle''' refers to a number of [[law firm]]s practicing in [[Offshore Financial Centre|offshore jurisdiction]]s which are considered to be amongst the leaders in the field. The terms is adopted as an imitation of the more well-recognised London [[Magic Circle (law)|Magic Circle]] law firms. The concept of an offshore magic circle was first suggested in the wake of a series of cross-jurisdictional mergers and expansions by various firms. Although there is some disagreement over exactly who should constitute the offshore magic circle, a recent article in ''Legal Business''<ref>Issue 181, ''Offshore Review'', February 2008.</ref> suggested that an offshore magic circle might constitute the following firms: *[[Appleby Spurling Hunter|Appleby]] *[[Bedell Cristin]] *[[Carey Olsen]] *[[Conyers Dill & Pearman]] *[[Harneys]] *[[Maples and Calder]] *[[Mourant du Feu & Jeune]] *[[Ogier (law firm)|Ogier]] *[[Ozannes]] *[[Walkers (law firm)|Walkers]] ==Criticism== The concept of an offshore magic circle has been criticised by the wider legal community and within the offshore legal sphere itself. * In the wider legal community, it has been suggested that label is a little self-aggrandising. Not only does the proposed offshore magic circle seem fairly big (with 10 firms, as opposed to the 5 firms in the original magic circle), but it also appears to contain a fairly high percentage of the total number of offshore firms, including almost all the significant [[Channel Islands]] firms. But the combined population and economies of all the principal offshore financial centres combined still only amount to a tiny fraction of the [[United Kingdom]], and the magic circle contains an infinitely smaller percentage of the law firms in the United Kingdom.<ref>The combined populations of the [[British Virgin Islands]], [[Bermuda]], [[Cayman Islands]], [[Jersey]], [[Guernsey]] and the [[Isle of Man]] add up to 372,000, against the population of the United Kingdom, which is estimated at 59,800,000 (2004 estimated figures). In terms of [[Gross domestic product|GDP]], the aggregate of the offshore jurisdictions is US$15 billion, as against US$1,860 billion in the United Kingdom (2005 estimated figures).</ref> * Within the offshore legal community, critics have also suggested that the principal criterea for inclusion appears to be for a firm to operate in more than one offshore jurisdiction (thereby excluding a number of single jurisdiction firms, such as [[Cains (law firm)|Cains]] (the winner of the ''Legal Week'' Offshore law firm of the year 2007[http://www.incisive-events.com/public/showPage.html?page=660347]) and [[Hassans]]), rather than the quality of the practice. In some cases, low quality practices are acquired in a target jurisdiction, and then rebranded as a top flight firm without any change of personnel. The approach is slightly ironic as the acknowledged leading member of the real magic circle, [[Slaughter and May]], has eschewed the multi-jurisdictional approach and focuses purely on excellence within a single jurisdiction. * It is also highly Anglo-Saxon centric, ignoring all of the major firms in [[Luxembourg]] and [[Leichtenstein]]. Edward Fennell, a legal columnist for ''[[The Times]]'', has expressed slightly irreverent views of law firms designating themselves as part of an offshore magic circle.[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,28012-2208456_2,00.html] However, the concept of an offshore magic circle has gone down very well with the firms involved, and the concept is actively promoted by legal [[Recruitment consultancy|recruitment consultants]] who earn substantial fees by persuading city lawyers to spend a few years working in an offshore jurisdiction. ==Endorsement== Although not expressly endorsing the term, the ''Chambers'' legal directory in its 2008 edition recognised the move towards multi-jurisdictional offshore firms, and including a new ranking for offshore firms globally rather than by jurisdiction.<ref>[http://www.chambersandpartners.com/global/resultseditorial.aspx?fid=4383&cid=217&pid=553&solbar=1&grouptype=1#4383]</ref> Arguably this was the first formal attempt to frame a defined offshore magic circle, although the directory pointedly did not use the term. That list included all the same names as the list produced by ''Legal Business'' for the putative offshore magic circle, save that Ozannes ([[Guernsey]]) dropped out. The directory expressly stated that single-jurisdiction firms, no matter how good, would not be considered.<ref>Although that criterion is somewhat stretched: Harneys was included although it only has a tiny [[Anguilla]] office.</ref> ==Developments== In late 2007, discussions became public about a proposed [[Mergers and acquisitions|merger]] between Walkers and Mourants. Although mergers between offshore firms are relatively common,<ref>Walkers had recently absorbed a smaller Jersey firm, Crills, and Mourants had recently absorbed Cayman firm, Quin & Hampson. In the recent past, Ogier has merged with Cayman firm Boxalls and British Virgin Islands firm, WSmiths; Appleby merged with Cayman firm, Hunter & Hunter; Maples and Calder merged with British Virgin Islands firm, Smith-Hughes, Raworth & McKenzie; Appleby merged with Jersey firm, Bailhache Labesse; and Carey Langlois and Olsens merged to form Carey Olsen.</ref> it would be the first merger between two of the major global offshore players, creating by far the largest offshore law firm in the world.[http://www.thelawyer.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=129499&d=415&h=417&f=416] Details remain sketchy, although there has been much public speculation that Walkers will sell its highly profitable [[trust company]] arm to Mourants' [[equity partner]]s first, and then two legal practices would merge thereafter.<ref>Most offshore law firms derive a significant element of their profitability from their affiliated trust companies.</ref> Such a move would probably be financially deleterious to the non-equity partners of Walkers, and a defection early in the talks lent credibility to this view.[http://www.thelawyer.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=129682&d=415&h=417&f=416] In January 2008 Maples and Calder and Carey Olsen announced a formal "best friends" relationship,[http://www.legalweek.com/Articles/Article.aspx?liArticleID=1087953][http://www.eubankers.net/eu_article.php?articleid=13218] which in the press was presented as a response to the potential merger between Mourants and Walkers. As a result of the relationship, Maples will cease to practice Jersey law, and all Jersey clients would be referred to Carey Olsen. Maples' Jersey office had been among the least successful of its expansion offices outside of Cayman. In broader terms, two of the larger multi-jurisdictional offshore firms shying away from opening in new jurisdictions (or, in the case of Maples, actually closing down an operation in another offshore jurisdiction), represents the first significant backwards step in the trend towards multi jurisdictionalism, although it was seen as a direct response to the proposed Walkers / Mourants merger. In February 2008 Walkers and Mourants announced that the merger talks would not be proceeding further. ==Multi-jurisdiction firms== The following table sets out the offshore jurisdictions in which the principal multi-jurisdictional offshore firms (treating Harneys as multi-jurisdictional for these purposes) have offices (correct as at January 2008). The table does not list "onshore" offices, such London or Hong Kong. Dubai and Dublin are treated as "offshore" in this table. {| class="wikitable" |+'''Multi-jurisdiction offshore law firms |- !width="85"| '''Firm !! width="65"| '''[[Bermuda]] !! width="65"| '''[[British Virgin Islands|BVI]] !!width="65"| '''[[Cayman Islands|Cayman]] !! width="65"| '''[[Dubai]] !! width="65"| '''[[Dublin]] !! width="65"| '''[[Guernsey]] !! width="65"| '''[[Jersey]] !! width="85"| '''Other !! width="135"| '''"Home" jurisdiction |- | '''Appleby | align="center"| Yes || align="center"| Yes || align="center"| Yes || || || || align="center"| Yes || align="center"|[[Mauritius]] || Bermuda |- | '''Bedell Cristin | || || || || align="center"| Yes || align="center"| Yes || align="center"| Yes || || Jersey |- | '''Carey Olsen | || || || || || align="center"| Yes || align="center"| Yes || || Channel Islands* |- | '''CDP | align="center"| Yes || align="center"| Yes || align="center"| Yes || align="center"| Yes || || || || align="center"|[[Anguilla ]]|| Bermuda |- | '''Harneys | || align="center"| Yes || align="center"|Yes || || || || || align="center"|[[Anguilla ]]|| British Virgin Islands |- | '''Maples | || align="center"| Yes || align="center"| Yes || align="center"| Yes || align="center"| Yes || || || || Cayman Islands |- | '''Mourants | || || align="center"| Yes || align="center"| Yes || || align="center"| Yes || align="center"| Yes || align="center"|[[Luxembourg]] || Jersey |- | '''Ogier | || align="center"| Yes || align="center"| Yes || || align="center"| Yes || align="center"| Yes || align="center"| Yes || || Jersey |- | '''Ozannes | || || || || || align="center"| Yes || align="center"| Yes || || Guernsey |- | '''Walkers | || align="center"| Yes || align="center"| Yes || align="center"| Yes || || || align="center"| Yes || || Cayman Islands |- |} <nowiki> * Carey Olsen was formed by the merger of two roughly equivalent sized firms from Jersey and Guernsey.</nowiki></br> ==Footnotes== {{Reflist}} [[Category:Offshore finance]] [[Category:Offshore law firms| Offshore Magic Circle]]