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}}{{dpn|/ˈmæʤɪk ˈsɜːkl lɔː fɜːm/<br>(Also (''chiefly Seppo'') “[[white-shoe law firm|white-shoe ~]]” ; “[[big law]]”)|n|}} | }}{{dpn|/ˈmæʤɪk ˈsɜːkl lɔː fɜːm/<br>(Also (''chiefly Seppo'') “[[white-shoe law firm|white-shoe ~]]” ; “[[big law]]”)|n|}} | ||
Known in the commonwealth as the “magic circle”, and in the new world as “big law”, these organisations issue curiously [[Bright-line test|non-committal]] [[legal opinion]]s and fulfil an essential, but curiously hard to articulate, role in vouchsafing the orderly operation of the world’s financial markets. As such, they are one of the few international enterprises whose business model was wholly unaffected by the global financial crisis. | |||
===Magick circle and the occult=== | ===Magick circle and the occult=== | ||
As the reference to [[Magick circle|magick]] suggests, there is something of the occult in these organisations: | As the reference to [[Magick circle|magick]] suggests, there is something of the occult in these organisations: | ||
*'''Nocturnal''': Magic circle | *'''Nocturnal''': [[Private practice lawyer|Magic circle lawyer]]s are basically vampiric and, by day, repose in crates of salted earth in crypts beneath their offices. This can lead to disappointment, particularly among the sunshine-loving trading folk, who naively expect a draft promised “today” to arrive during the hours of daylight, and not to the accompaniment of moonlit dire-wolves at four o’clock the following morning. | ||
*'''Undead''': For the same reason it is literally impossible to work private practice lawyers to death, because they are already undead. As long as you like your work late and impenetrable, they will carry on dancing as long as you are prepared to keep paying for the children of the night to make their music. | *'''Undead''': For the same reason it is literally impossible to work private practice lawyers to death, because they are already undead. As long as you like your work late and impenetrable, they will carry on dancing as long as you are prepared to keep paying for the children of the night to make their music. | ||
*'''Soul selling''': There is something Faustian about the bargains one strikes with magic circle law firms. Young clerks sell their souls in return for knowledge, power and unlimited wealth (though the trade is reversed from that proposed by Goethe: here it is soul and damnation first, wealth and power later). | *'''Soul selling''': There is something Faustian about the bargains one strikes with magic circle law firms. Young clerks sell their souls in return for knowledge, power and unlimited wealth (though the trade is reversed from that proposed by Goethe: here it is soul and damnation first, wealth and power later). | ||