shaking hands in front of globe Credit: MADMAT / AdobeStock.

Allen & Overy is breaking through the Magic Circle glass ceiling, proving once and for all what it has been insisting for a while: it is no longer just one of the Magic Circle quintet.

As anyone who is part of the legal industry undoubtedly knows by now, the British elite firm is merging with Shearman & Sterling, a move the two firms announced over the weekend. Together, they will have more than $3 billion in revenue globally and almost 4,000 lawyers worldwide.

I get it. Allen & Overy wants to be regarded as a true player on U.S. turf, and a merger with Shearman & Sterling will leave all of its Magic Circle peers in the dust, no matter how much money they've poured into their U.S. practices to date.