A few weeks back, when writing about the storm in the teacup that accompanied the Superbrands rankings, I argued law firms have wider brands that reflect the general awareness of their business, which can be very different to the views of those with direct dealings with the firm.

To follow up on that point, probably one of the best benchmarks any law firm can get of that wider brand is how students see them. After all, it is widely acknowledged that students, while being considerably more clued up than earlier generations about the bruising realities of commercial practice, still find it very hard to distinguish between individual law firms. (You can't hold that against them, since many clients have the same problem.)

So their perceptions remain a handy indicator of how potent firms' wider brands are. Based on this year's Law Student Report from Legal Week Intelligence, Allen & Overy, Eversheds and Bird & Bird will be enthused to see how well-known their names are on campus. Glancing at this year's rankings, based on responses from more than 3,000 students, generally the firms that have invested in their brand are seeing a return on that investment, at the intake level at least.

This seems to be particularly the case when judging the large nationally and regionally spread law firms, a weight class in which Eversheds and Addleshaws seem to be sewing up the student market, apart from a punch-above-weight showing from Burges Salmon. In contrast, rankings for City firms are more evenly spread, with a range of firms from Bird & Bird, Macfarlanes, Olswang, Berwin Leighton Paisner, Field Fisher Waterhouse, Travers Smith and Nabarro competing closely.

Looking at student perceptions also underlines the extent to which this general image can diverge significantly from the view of those interacting with your firm all the time. While the Clifford Chance brand is still doing the business inside the Russell Group, the firm is generally viewed in the industry to have had a tough time of it over the last two years. Likewise, highly-ranked firms like Eversheds, Baker & McKenzie and Halliwells have had their share of reverses during the recession but still achieve respectable rankings.

By the same token, it is surprising to see Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, at the height of its global powers, and the continually robust Slaughter and May not turning more student heads. For many senior City lawyers there is an inner magic circle made up of the two firms and Linklaters but, rightly or wrongly, students don't see it the same way. Still, given that Legal Week recently established that more than a third of the trainee intake at Freshfields and Slaughters came from Oxbridge, I doubt either firm will be too concerned. It's not just how far the name gets around, it's who exactly it reaches.

More comment and analysis