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Summary: The much-anticipated results from Vault’s associate survey have been released with Cravath, Swaine & Moore still leading the pack.
The results are in. Vault’s annual survey of associates has come back with Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP once again on top for the second year. The law firm narrowly knocked off Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz’s last year from their 13-year reign. This year the gap between the two widened even more.
Cravath has been referred to as the “leader of the pack” and a “great American law firm against which all others should be judged” by those who took the survey. Vault Senior Law Editor Matt Moody said, “After just edging out Wachtell last year, Cravath really solidified its top spot this year. Cravath invented the business model upon which nearly all large law firms are organized. And associates clearly haven’t forgotten that the firm is responsible for industry-wide associate raises last year.”
The survey asks roughly 18,000 law firm associates on a scale of 1 to 10, which law firm is the most prestigious. Associates are not allowed to rank their own firm and only supposed to rate law firms that they are familiar with. The survey also invited associates to rate the local prestige of firms in their area as well as to select the best firms in their specific practice area. Using this data they are able to make 26 practice area prestige ranking and 13 regional prestige rankings. They added two new practice areas to their rankings – Emerging Companies & Venture Capital and Health Care.
There were five new firms to make it to the top 100 this year. Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton; Kasowitz Benson Torres; Troutman Sanders; Davis Wright Tremaine; and Ballard Spahr were not in the top 100 last year but were able to slip in this year. The firms that dropped off the last were Bracewell; Keker & Van Nest; and Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler. Two other spots were opened up when Arnold & Porter merged with Kaye Scholer and Norton Rose Fulbright with Chadbourne & Parke.
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- Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
- Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates
- Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
- Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
- Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP
- Latham & Watkins LLP
- Kirkland & Ellis LLP
- Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
- Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP
- Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
- Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
- Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LP
- Sidley Austin LLP
- Jones Day
- Covington & Burling LLP
- Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
- White & Case LLP
- Williams & Connolly LLP
- Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP
- Ropes & Gray LLP
- Paul Hastings LLP
- WilmerHale
- Morrison & Foerster LLP
- O’Melveny & Myers LLP
- Hogan Lovells LLP
- Proskauer Rose LLP
- Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
- Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer
- Baker McKenzie
- Mayer Brown LLP
- Cooley LLP
- Clifford Chance US LLP
- K&L Gates LLP
- Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP
- Linklaters LLP (US)
- DLA Piper
- Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP
- Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP
- Shearman & Sterling LLP
- Allen & Overy LLP
- Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
- Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
- Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP
- Baker Botts LLP
- King & Spalding
- Winston & Strawn LLP
- Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP
- Goodwin
- Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP
- Dechert LLP
- Greenberg Traurig LLP
- Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP
- Perkins Coie LLP
- Jenner & Block LLP
- Alston & Bird LLP
- Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP
- McDermott Will & Emery LLP
- Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
- Irell & Manella LLP
- Vinson & Elkins LLP
- Reed Smith LLP
- Susman Godfrey LLP
- Holland & Knight LLP
- Dentons
- Baker & Hostetler LLP
- Nixon Peabody LLP
- Norton Rose Fulbright
- Crowell & Moring LLP
- Squire Patton Boggs
- Fish & Richardson P.C.
- Steptoe & Johnson LLP
- Bryan Cave LLP
- Venable LLP
- Foley & Lardner LLP
- Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP
- McGuireWoods LLP
- Locke Lord LLP
- Fenwick & West LLP
- Arent Fox LLP
- Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP
- Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP
- Hunton & Williams LLP
- Seyfarth Shaw LLP
- Pepper Hamilton LLP
- Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP
- Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.
- Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick PLLC
- Haynes & Boone, LLP
- Fox Rothschild LLP
- Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP
- Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
- Blank Rome LLP
- Duane Morris LLP
- Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP
- Troutman Sanders LLP
- Littler Mendelson P.C.
- Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
- Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP
- Ballard Spahr LLP
Are you surprised by any of the results? Tell us in the comments below.
To learn more about Cravath, Swaine & Moore, read these articles:
- Firms Follow Cravath’s $180,000 Base Pay Scale
- “Cravath Effect” Takes Place with Several Firms Upping Salary Rates
- Law Firms Across the Globe Match Cravath Bonuses
Photo: lawlytics.com
