UK Attorneys

The United Kingdom may only be a small country in comparison to others in the world, but it is one of the most important and influential. With a population exceeding 60 million, there is a lot of big business happening in the United Kingdom. With big business comes big legal issues, and with that comes the need for experienced and qualified attorneys.

Attorneys are a crucial part to the business world, and help prevent companies from any legal issues they may come across that can potentially cost them millions of dollars and sometimes bankruptcy. With any of the world’s largest companies being based in the United Kingdom, many top attorneys from across the globe choose to live and work in the UK.

Not only are attorneys an integral part of business life, but they are increasingly being demanded by the public. In recent years citizens have become more aware of their legal rights, and it is becoming more and more common to hire a lawyer to help them with even the smallest legal dispute.

Qualifying as an attorney in the UK is a long process, and requires a lot of time and commitment. Gaining a place into a law degree is highly competitive, and requires top grades in school. The United Kingdom is home to some of the top law schools in the world, and some of the best and well known include: Cambridge University, Oxford University, London School of Economics, Aberdeen, Durham and King’s College London.

As well as having some of the best educated and qualified lawyers in the world, the UK is also home to many of the world’s best and largest law firms. Many international law firms have bases and/or headquarters in the UK, particularly in the capital of London.

The “Magic Circle” is an area of London that is home to the top five most powerful law firms in the United Kingdom (and arguably the world in some cases). These law firms are: Allen & Overy; Clifford Chance; Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; Linklaters; and Slaughter and May.

As well as being the largest law firms in the United Kingdom, they are also home to some of the highest paid attorneys around. They only hire the top attorneys from around the world, and they generally only take on large or high-profile cases as their fees are very high.

Sometimes large law firms aren’t always the best option. Different law firms have different specialties, and perform better than others in certain areas of the law. Vault magazine conduct an annual survey into the best lawyers in the UK. In the area of capital markets law, Allen & Overy ranked number one in the UK; Bird & Bird ranked highest in the area of intellectual property law; in litigation law, Herbert Smith LLP was top of the ranks; and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer was number one in the area of tax law.

The website also has listing of the best law firms to work for, and the results for these differ again, with the top law firm to work for votes as: Trowers and Hamlins, with Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP coming in at a close second.

Not all of the top attorneys are based in London, there are many fantastic attorneys and law firms in other major cities across the UK including Edinburgh, Manchester, Glasgow and Cardiff.

Hammonds is a very well known and respected law firm based in Leeds; whilst Irwin Mitchell, based in Sheffield, is also in the top UK law firms.

If you are searching for an attorney in the UK, you will find that you have endless options. There are over 151,000 lawyers around the country, meaning that there is a ratio of approximately 1 lawyer to every 400 people.

Hiring an attorney can be expensive, and not everyone can afford it. If you are in the unfortunate case of being involved in a criminal trial in the UK, you are entitled to a free attorney that is paid for by the government. You will generally be at no disadvantage by accepting a public attorney over hiring a public attorney, as they are all highly qualified and are matched to suit your case. You do not have a say over the attorney that you are assigned, but if there are severe differences in opinion between you and your attorney you are entitled to change to a new attorney, although you still don’t get a say in whom.

No matter what type of attorney you are after, at whatever budget or severity level of your case, you are sure to find some of the best qualified and successful attorneys in the world within the UK.