78% of Partners at Top UK Law Firms Educated at Oxbridge, Russell Group Universities

Uh-oh, another headache for legal industry as it has been found that 78% of partners at Magic and Silver Circle firms attended a Russell Group university, including Oxford or Cambridge.

43% of partners went to Oxbridge, compared to just 2.1% of UK graduates. Similarly, 35% of partners went to a Russell group university, compared to 30% of the UK graduate population. The Magic and Silver circle are made up of the following firms: Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters, Slaughter and May, Herbert Smith Freehills, Ashurst, Berwin Leighton Paisner, Macfarlanes and Travers Smith.

Statistics do not reveal bias, but 58% of lawyers surveyed alongside these findings said they believe colleagues who studied at Oxbridge progress quicker than those who did not attend these universities, regardless of merit. Further findings reveal that 44% of lawyers felt that their career progress has been hampered by attitudes towards where they studied, possibly suggesting that academic status is sometimes viewed as more important than individual merit and achievement.

Chris Cayley, EMEA Managing Director at Laurence Simons, said, “When we compare the percentage of partners at UK law firms with an Oxbridge or Russell Group education to the general graduate population, it shows a strong tendency for top firms to recruit from certain educational backgrounds.  A significant proportion of partners attended independent, fee-paying schools and the top universities do select many of their students from these institutions.”

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