A&O: still hoping to break into top tier of London M&A advisersAllen & Overy’s (A&O’s) management has delivered an ‘anti-complacency’ message to staff, warning partners that top City firms in the magic circle have become indistinguishable from each other in clients’ eyes.

At the firm’s global partnership retreat earlier this month – “The Magic Circle and Beyond” – the firm’s management warned of the development of a ‘tragic circle’ of leading UK firms that have effectively become replicas of one another.