What universities for magic circle law firms?

What universities are looking at applying for?

leeds,warwick, cambridge, leicester and aston as a safe option

I agree that there’s no list - but from my own experience of who is in my MC cohort/vacs/Open Days it seems to be Russell Group Unis plus occasionally Leicester, Lancaster, Bath, Royal Holloway, Surrey, Sussex and Loughborough (plus a few Scottish unis).

Recent research evidence has tended to support the view that Russell Group universities do indeed confer an advantage:

"Using data about the law schools of Russell Group universities as a proxy for our group of the top law schools, we note that admission to these confers benefits. These include higher degree outcomes and an increased likelihood of being recruited by one of the leading UK law firms. Unfortunately, only a relatively small proportion of state school students gain entry to a Russell Group university, while students from less advantaged backgrounds comprise a relatively small proportion of graduates from their law schools. This is likely to contribute to the lack of socio-economic diversity within the legal profession."

Bridge Group and York Law School (2020). Admissions to selective UK law schools. Bridge Group. Available at:

https://www.thebridgegroup.org.uk/research

Here is a list https://www.chambersstudent.co.uk/where-to-start/newsletter/law-firms-preferred-universities-2019

which hides all the variation among RGs and doesn't prove jack **** in general. the worst RGs probably perform about the same as many non-RGs.

Which is logical and exactly what one would expect as they would attract a similar calibre of student

there's a reason why the A*A*A student at UCL gets interviews at top firms whereas the ABB student at Liverpool does not

With respect, I think that's rather a statement of the obvious.

Your citation in #12 reinforces the point I was making in #8, regardless of the primary purpose of the Study:

"...Russell Group graduates made up...over 60% of job offers across ten elite law and accountancy firms. To put this in perspective, only 17% of all higher education graduates attended a Russell Group."

The OP was contemplating applying to Leeds, Warwick, Cambridge, Leicester and Aston. It's safe to assume that the vast majority of university applicants are aware of the unique status of Oxbridge but are, perhaps, not as familiar with the nuances which distinguish other universities. Of course, there are several other RG universities that are particularly highly favoured but it is nevertheless appropriate to note the dominance of the Group as a whole (or at least 22 of them), including the universities you refer to as "bog standard regional RGs".

have you ever considered that the 3x overrepresentation isn't uniform across the RG and is down to the sort of student hired by them. my uni (yes, a bog standard regional RG) is overrepresented in the paralegal ranks but way underpresented in the trainee ones

last paragraph is waffle. aston's crap because it's aston, not because it isn't an RG. leicester and leeds are close enough to each other even though one is an RG and the other isn't. people arguing what i think you're arguing need to prove causation

The chambers list https://www.chambersstudent.co.uk/where-to-start/newsletter/law-firms-preferred-universities does indeed cover lots of universities but it gives you the numbers which is the key thing. It also has a ranking from most popular, most hired from starting Oxford, Cambridge, etc so not a bad list to use. Eg I was at a MC firm and went to one near the top., My London lawyer daughters similarly went to ones near the top of that list. (None of us are Oxbridge)