The Guardian UK 300: top law firms

…as voted for by students and graduates

The Guardian UK 300 features the largest and most comprehensive annual survey of student opinion on graduate careers, employers and their own job hunts. The survey determines not only the most popular 300 graduate employers in the UK overall, but also the most popular graduate employers in a range of career sectors, including law.

The top graduate employers for solicitors are listed in the table below. Magic circle firms Allen & Overy and Clifford Chance retain the highest two spaces at the top of the table and Bird & Bird climbs into the top ten as a new entrant.

Students interested in solicitors careers…

probably had undertaken law-related work experience: 68% of students interested in becoming a solicitor had completed work experience related to their course and 72% of students interested in this sector were studying law
were more likely than students in any other sector to want to engage with employers via networking evenings/dinners
were arguably likely to want a geographically mobile career: 40% rated ‘international interaction/opportunities’ as a ‘very important’ factor when choosing an employer, compared to 30% on average; 38% actively wanted to work for a large international firm, as opposed to 25% on average; and 70% were willing to relocate on their training contact, as opposed to 62% on average.*

*Statistics have been rounded.

Over 73,500 undergraduates took part in the trendence Graduate Survey, which formed the basis of the results in The Guardian UK 300.

Allen & Overy LLP

Last year: 1

Law solicitors

same

Clifford Chance

Last year: 2

Law solicitors, Banking, Capital markets, Corporate, Insolvency, Private equity, Real estate, Tax

same

Irwin Mitchell

Last year: 4

Law solicitors, Banking, Capital markets, Commercial, Construction, Corporate, Criminal, Dispute resolution, Employment, Environmental, European & competition, Family, Human rights, Insolvency, Insurance, Intellectual property, IT & communications, Personal injury, Private client, Private equity, Real estate, Tax