There's hundreds of small law firms but very few, typically large, investment banks. In UK I'd say getting into a 'magic circle' (UK top 5) law firm is about as competitive as getting into a top 20 (globally) investment bank - the ratios for both will typically exceed 50:1 for the 2005 graduate scheme. As a rough guideline pretty much all my friends here doing Law who pushed the right buttons - (a) 2.1/1st in 1st year exams, (b) vacation scheme placements, (c) some extracurriculars and (d) charming personality have just secured training contracts at magic circle law firms in the City. However, you can probably get into a high street law firm in a smaller town with a 2.2 and little else. Whereas for investment banks, I was at a "2nd tier" company this summer and the calibre of people was just phenomenal - people who'd played World Cup sports, won national championships etc whilst having 1st/2.1 from mostly top 10 universities. You're right in saying law firms have less rigorous recruitment procedures - leading firm Slaughter & May is simply a 45 minute chat, whereas the top investment banks may make you travel down to London 3-4 times for rigorous Maths tests and grillings by MDs.