In his defense in the Wall Street Journal (subscription) of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, America's Firingest Law Firm™, Ashby Jones wrote:

[W]hile it might take several months to determine the full damage, so far the firm hasn't seen large groups of partners bolt for the door, a phenomenon that can create a mini-panic at a firm and result in the loss of entire practice groups. Of course, the handsome partnership payouts provide good incentive to Cadwalader partners to stay put. And while Cadwalader might never be called a "collegial" place, its partnership is at least cohesive. It consists of a manageable 114 lawyers located predominantly in lower Manhattan.

Make that 113 lawyers. From a press release issued today by Steptoe & Johnson:

Steptoe & Johnson LLP, a pre-eminent international law firm, today announced the addition of Andrew J. Perel as a new partner in its New York office.

Mr. Perel, former Chair of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft's Environmental Practice Group, will also become the resident member of the management committee of Steptoe's New York City office and that office's representative on the firm's Executive Committee.

"Andrew is the 'go to' environmental lawyer in New York. He is a leader in his field and highly respected nationally. Through his practice, he provides Steptoe with additional entrée into the financial services clients that are the backbone of every New York law firm practice," said Steve Fennell, head of Steptoe's Litigation Department.

Is Perel's departure an isolated occurrence? Or could it be the first of several partner exits? Time will tell.

Andrew J. Perel Joins Steptoe as Partner in New York Office [Steptoe & Johnson (press release)]
Andrew J. Perel bio [Cadwalader via Google Cache]

Judging from our traffic, readers are enjoying this rundown of the Vault 100. We do aim to please here at ATL. We appreciate those who have offered insights about firms in the comments.

Moving on to the next group (with prestige scores in parentheses):

61. Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP (5.608)
62. Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP (5.583)
63. Bingham McCutchen LLP (5.583)
64. Greenberg Traurig, LLP (5.478)
65. Holland & Knight LLP (5.416)
66. Heller Ehrman LLP (5.346)
67. Foley & Lardner LLP (5.266)
68. Steptoe & Johnson LLP (5.252)
69. K&L Gates LLP (5.242)
70. Kaye Scholer LLP (5.230)

As we move down the Vault list, "notable perks" are becoming less elaborate. This group is dominated by tales of free food, from endless soda at Greenberg Traurig to weekend doughnuts and muffins at Foley. And it appears that Pillsbury lacks a monopoly on cookie benefits; over at Cahill, lawyers are plied with "twice daily cookie trays."

We note this food-related perk at Bingham: "If any lawyer takes out a more junior lawyer for drinks/dinner, he/she can submit the expense to the mentoring budget AND the senior person can get creditable hours." Can you expense the roofies?

We invite you to compare and contrast these firms' work, lifestyle, benefits... and cookies, in the comments.

Earlier: Vault 100 Open Threads - 2009

Our open threads on Vault 100 law firms seem to be drawing fewer comments. But we'll finish what we've started. We don't want to give you a case of these.

So here is this afternoon's set of Biglaw shops (with Vault prestige scores in parentheses):

66. Greenberg Traurig, LLP (5.631)
67. Kaye Scholer LLP (5.591)
68. Holland & Knight LLP (5.498)
69. Steptoe & Johnson LLP (5.403)
70. Foley & Lardner LLP (5.360)

Among these firms, the special ATL shout-out goes to Greenberg Traurig. GT is the firm that incites the strongest passions in people.

Please discuss these five fine firms in the comments. Thanks.

The Vault Top 100 Law Firms [Vault]

Earlier: Vault 1-5; Vault 6-10; Vault 11-15; Vault 16-20; Vault 21-25; Vault 26-30; Vault 31-35; Vault 36-40; Vault 41-45; Vault 46-50; Vault 51-55; Vault 56-60; Vault 61-65

This just in: Steptoe & Johnson has raised starting salaries in its Washington office to $160,000. We don't know what they're doing up the seniority ladder or in non-D.C. offices.

An email to incoming associates and a memo to first-year associates appear after the jump.