While perusing through a suburban charity shop, as you do, The Diary came across a 1989 edition of The Legal 500 (a snip at 25p).

As you would expect, it makes fascinating reading – particularly in the section that identifies those London-based firms that are "going from strength to strength".

Leading the field, are the twin giants of Slaughter and May and Linklaters & Paines, firms that, according to the tome, "have no competitors."
Next, the directory identifies the three firms that are most widely tipped to join this pair at the top table, to form what is now called the magic circle.

Well, it got one right – namely Clifford Chance (CC), which it described as "way ahead" of the chasing pack. However, the other two firms it identified as knocking on the magic circle's door are yet to quite reach such heights. They are: Denton Hall Burgin & Warrens (now Denton Wilde Sapte) -"a leading City practice in its own right" – and Travers Smith Braithwaite – "presumably there is considerable pressure on the firm to expand (whether by merger or takeover)".

Next, a group of four more firms are identified, that sit just behind CC, Dentons and Travers.
They are: Herbert Smith, SJ Berwin & Co, Lovell White Durrant and McKenna & Co.

It is only when you get to the tier below that that Freshfields crops up – in the same breath as Richards Butler, Macfarlanes, Nabarro Nathanson, DJ Freeman & Co and Ashurst Morris Crisp.

As for the fifth member of what is now the magic circle – Allen & Overy – it is grouped together with firms that include Gouldens, Turner Kenneth Brown, Simmons & Simmons and, er, Penningtons.