RollonFriday reports that UK giant Slaughter and May posted an ad looking for competition law associates and - how generous of them - said that, "Perhaps counter-intuitively, the firm is not as exacting in terms of its requirements as one might expect and will happily consider lawyers from Australia, New Zealand and Brussels".

The firm added that their focus was on the quality of candidates, and therefore "the location of the candidate should not have a bearing on the measure of the quality provided the experience is relevant and the academics are strong".

Slaughter and May didn't earn any points on the modesty scale either, espousing that, "This Magic Circle firm is regarded, even among its Magic Circle peers, as unquestionable the premier law firm in the UK and carrying its brand around on your resume is about as powerful an endorsement of quality as you are likely to find".

Gee, with such a down-to-earth, welcoming ad which assures the world that the firm's "unquestionable" awesomeness will not be tainted by the presence of lawyers from the colonies, which counter-intuitive Aussie lawyer wouldn't want to work there?

(Not long after RollonFriday contacted the firm to ask about what on earth they were thinking, the advert mysteriously disappeared.)

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Lawyers Weekly contacted the firm's executive partner, Graham White, who said the ad had been placed without the firm's knowledge. White said the intention of the ad was to make it clear that the firm would accept applicants who did not have London experience. He added, however, that the ad was "badly drafted and clearly could cause offence". White also said the recruitment company responsible for the ad, First Counsel, had sent a written apology to the firm and "very much regret causing offence".