Biglaw, Rankings

The ATL Office 100 Ranking: You Work In An Office, Not A Firm

This year's ATL Office 100 has a lot of shuffling at the top.

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The second annual Above the Law Office 100 is here. Sure, you can rank “Biglaw” by overall firms (which we do), or by “region” (which we do), or by “practice area” (which we’ll do for money), or by straight-cash, homie (which is why Am Law still exists). But here we compare Biglaw firms on an office-to-office basis because that’s where you work.

What do you care if your firm is nationally respected if you are working in one of its backwater offices? If you tell somebody you are working at DLA Piper, don’t you also need to specify “DLA: Polar Bear Habitat @BronxZoo” versus “DLA: Chesapeake Bay Trash Barge”? Don’t you want to know which DLA office is better?

The goal of this ranking is to give you information that will actually inform your choice on which offer to take. As we saw in our Offer series, a lot of people are choosing between not just firms, but also cities. It’s hard to create an apples-to-apples ranking of a firm in L.A. versus a firm in D.C. This is our best attempt to do that.

We compare Biglaw offices across 10 major markets to determine which one is the best. For the second year in a row, the overall #1 is Kirkland & Ellis — Chicago. K&E Chicago is the Daniel Murphy of our ranking.

All the way up to #2 this year is Latham Watkins — L.A. Vinson & Elkins — Houston is #4. That’s fun. Nobody is going to tell you to go to Vinson & Elkins over Wachtell in terms of overall firm prestige. But we’re telling you that V&E is the Wachtell of Houston.

Wachtell — New York, last year’s #2, is down to #28 in this year’s office rankings. Why? Here’s what stat-nerd Brian Dalton tells me:

“Wachtell’s overall score declined from 82.55 to 77.14, reflecting modest declines in “growth/decay,” “leverage,” relatively low promotional prospects, and a significant decline in “employer rating” (i.e., desirability as an employer by peers in NYC). Generally, NYC lawyers are much harsher than lawyers nationwide in rating local competitors. As you can see, there isn’t much difference in overall score for the top offices.”

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Dalton, who gets to talk about math because he can take me in a street fight, also notes that the rankings have been refined this year to emphasize things like leverage and promotional prospects by office, rather than firmwide.

Davis Polk — New York ranks #3 in our Office 100, so it’s not that New York attorneys are incapable of saying nice things about their competitors. Then again, Davis Polk attorneys are widely regarded as more attractive than Wachtell attorneys, so… yeah, I’m suggesting that DPW sexed their way to top. Maybe you can charm your way all the way up to #3 on Above the Law’s super-cool and important ranking, Thomas J. Reid, but can you respect yourself in the morning? (Just kidding, just kidding, clear parody, please don’t sue me.)

Check out the full list. Let us inform you, or, in the alternative, let us provide you with ways to feel superior to your classmates who stayed in New York City.

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