Biglaw Perk Watch: Law Firm 401k Rankings

Is your firm's 401k plan among the best in the industry? No? Take to the barricades, my comrades!

Folks often overlook the value of a good 401k plan. But in Biglaw, a good 401k plan is essential because lost in the cocktail of a good salary, crippling debt, and 5-Hour-Energy-fueled document reviews is the fact that you need to start planning for retirement now. Look, there’s a couple ways this legal career is going to go: you can become rich and not even need to care, or more likely you’ll eventually end up as a permanent associate, government lawyer, low-level in-house functionary, academic, temp attorney, or worse, blogger.

The point is you need to set up your road to retirement while you’re still rolling in Benjamins and ordering Seamless at 3 a.m.

Thankfully, someone has gone to the trouble of ranking 401k plans offered by law firms. Without further ado, let’s see those rankings!

Well… I guess the further ado of clicking through to see the full story….

Here is BrightScope’s Top 25 Law Firm 401k Plans:

1. Sullivan & Cromwell LLP – Retirement Plan of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP – 92.55
2. O’Melveny & Myers LLP – O’Melveny & Myers LLP Keogh Plan – 91.94
3. Jones Day – Jones Day Retirement Plan – 90.61
4. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP – Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP Supplemental Profit Sharing Plan for Partners – 89.89
5. Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP – Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP Retirement Plan and Trust for Partners – 88.91
6. Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP – Weil, Gotshal & Manges Partners’ Target Pension Plan – 88.40
7. Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP – Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP Profit Sharing Retirement Plan – 87.94
8. Fish & Richardson, PC – Fish & Richardson Profit Sharing 401k Plan – 87.78
9. Covington & Burling LLP – Covington & Burling Retirement Savings Plan – 87.55
10. Taft, Stettinius & Hollister LLP – Taft, Stettinius & Hollister LLP Thrift Savings and Retirement Plan – 87.43
11. Briggs and Morgan, Professional Association – Briggs and Morgan, Professional Association Profit Sharing Plan – 87.32
12. Paul Hastings LLP – Paul Hastings LLP Defined Contribution Retirement Plan – 87.25
13. Allen, Matkins, Leck, Gamble, Mallory & Natsis LLP – Allen Matkins Profit Sharing and 401(k) Plan – 87.23
14. Shearman & Sterling LLP – Shearman & Sterling LLP Partners Retirement Plan – 87.23
15. Lindquist & Vennum PLLP – Lindquist & Vennum PLLP Profit Sharing Retirement Plan and Trust – 87.19
16. Reed Smith LLP – Reed Smith LLP Deferred Profit Sharing Plan – 86.97
17. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP – Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom Retirement Plan – 86.86
18. Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP – Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP Retirement Savings Plan No. 1 – 86.85
19. Irell & Manella LLP – Irell & Manella Profit Sharing Plan – 86.73
20. Saul Ewing LLP – The Saul Ewing Retirement Plan – 86.65
21. Arnold & Porter LLP – Arnold & Porter LLP Profit-Sharing and 401(k) Plan and Trust – 86.65
22. Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP – Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP Income Deferral and Profit Sharing Plan – 86.60
23. Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP – Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, L.L.P. Section 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan – 86.59
24. Barnes & Thornburg LLP – Barnes & Thornburg LLP Profit Sharing Plan and Trust – 86.50
25. Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP – Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, L.L.P. Profit Sharing Plan – 86.47

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So if your firm is on this list, congratulations! You’ll be financially prepared to buy a Rascal and putter around a WalMart while you wait for your weekly Bingo game to start. And you’ll totally have the bling to get some retirement home action. Wear a rubber, dude!

If you don’t see your employer listed, check out BrightScope’s main site, where you can search their database to find your firm.

I’m not entirely clear on the rating system used, though BrightScope explains that it evaluates over 200 data points in creating its ranking. I don’t know enough about 401k plans to venture a guess at the sort of data involved, but at the very least we can agree these firms aren’t likely to convert your accounts into $4 million in untraceable bearer bonds and blow town for Monte Carlo.

BrightScope Lists Top 25 Law Firms With the Best 401k Plans [Market Watch]

Earlier: Biglaw Perk Watch: Retirement Benefits and Financial Planning

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