Top Litigation Firms By Pedigree: Is Prestige Fate?

How much does law school pedigree correlate with other measures of law firm "success"?

That “prestige” enjoys an outsized influence in the legal profession is established beyond all argument. The only question remaining (to repurpose a Kingsley Amis line on a vastly different subject): it is clear on why lawyers like it, but why do they like it so much?

In recent weeks, we have taken the industry’s obsession with credentials to one of the ends of its own logic: a ranking, specifically of “top litigation firms,” on the strength of their attorneys’ law schools. (This ranking is presented in partnership with our friends at Lake Whillans Litigation Finance.) Next we took a look at how the firms translate the expected talent of their lawyers into actual “success.” Or, at least, in terms of profits-per-partner as reported to Am Law. Today, at the risk of creating some Ouroboros of industry self-regard and navel gazing, we look at the interplay between J.D. strength and two other law firm rankings approaches: the Vault 100 and our own ATL rankings.

Whatever can be said about ATL, it certainly can’t be accused of monolithic consistency on any issue, including the profession’s prestige obsession. For example, our columnist Shannon Achimalbe has asked the plaintive question “Do Lawyers With Modest Backgrounds Have A Chance At The Top Jobs?

Since law firms do not have a Scouting Combine to determine a job applicant’s skills, employers are reluctant to hire someone that does not meet the traditional mold: top grades from a top school. … Every hiring decision has a level of risk.

The gist of Shannon’s post is that while the “traditional mold” drives hiring decisions, this is really is a shame because “merit should be determined by more than which law school you attended and your class rank.” But as Marlo Stanfield observed, “You want it to be one way. But it’s the other way.” Shannon’s invocation of “risk” is key. Obviously, firms and clients want assurances they are hiring the highest quality lawyers. Pedigree is the strongest — if not the only — signal of quality in the entry-level legal talent market. While the old adage about risk aversion, “nobody gets fired for buying IBM,” is increasingly outmoded in the wider business world, in law (if you swap in “hiring HLS”) it still holds firm.

Here is Elie throwing a bucket of ice water on lower-tiered students gunning for that large-firm associate position:

I know it sounds harsh. I know it is unfair. But for most people, the die on their entry level job prospects was cast on a Saturday back in college when they took the LSAT. That was your day. That was your opportunity to show potential employers that they should call you in for an interview. That was your moment.

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So is prestige fate? Below is a comparison between School Pedigree Rank and the Vault rankings, that go-to resource for law students aspiring to Biglaw. Keep in mind that this group of firms only includes those firms in the intersection between “Top Litigation Firms” (as defined in our methodology) and the Vault 100 (i.e., the boutiques are generally missing):

It is hardly a surprise to see that the Vault and school pedigrees are generally simultaneously greater, but their positive correlation (stated as a Pearson coefficient) is a strikingly positive .82.

If run the same school values against ATL’s Power 100 Law Firm Rankings we get this:

The ATL rankings are an attempt to go beyond a single metric (e.g., perceived prestige) to incorporate a range of objective data points as well survey information concerning firms’ strength of practice and desirability as an employer. Yet the outcome is essentially the same: a very strong positive correlation of .72. In fact it turns out that PPP and prestige rankings are more closely correlated with law school pedigree than they are with one another (“only” .62).

These findings underscore how steep, if not typically insurmountable, the climb is to “overcome” a lower-tier law school degree and get hired at a top Biglaw firm. The question “where did their attorneys go to law school?” turns out to be about as effective in measuring whether a firm is “successful” as any other approach we have, including relative profitability or reputation among current associates.

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This column is sponsored by Lake Whillans Litigation Finance. To learn more about us, and litigation finance generally, visit us at our website, lakewhillans.com. To ask a specific question, suggest a topic, or simply say hello, drop us a line at inquiry@lakewhillans.com.