Vault 100 Open Threads: 2010

Here we are. The end of the Vault 100. To be on the Vault 100 is to be a well-known firm. Sure, maybe not well-known to law students or junior associates who can’t see past the mountain of doc review boxes in their windowless conference rooms. But known to partners … and clients. Look down […]

We are so close to the end of the Vault open threads that I’m starting to get my second wind. I don’t know much about the firms on this part of the list, but you guys do. You know a lot. You’re so smart, you probably don’t even need this quick recap of the next […]

We continue our slog push through the nation’s 100 top law firms, as ranked by our friends over at Vault. Here are the next ten firms, to be discussed in the comments to this post: 71. Reed Smith72. Bryan Cave73. Perkins Coie74. Hunton & Williams75. Patton Boggs76. Arent Fox77. Schulte Roth & Zabel78. Howrey79. Chadbourne […]

As we get back to the Vault rankings, we encounter more firms that have engaged in stealth layoffs. And a firm that conducts mass transit layoffs. To refresh your memory, here’s the next group: 61. Cooley Godward 62. Pillsbury 63. Sonnenschein 64. Cahill 65. Holland & Knight 66. K&L Gates 67. Nixon Peabody 68. Foley […]

We’re now into the back half of the brand new Vault law firm rankings. Just like last year, we worry about a proliferation of “TTT” accusations in the comment threads. But such terms of art can miss the positives of many of the firms in this section of the Vault rankings. Here’s the list: 51. […]

As we finish off the Vault top 50, we look at some firms went through some tough layoffs. Here’s the list: 41. Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe 42. Baker & McKenzie 43. Goodwin Procter 44. DLA Piper 45. King & Spalding 46. Jenner & Block 47. Dewey & LeBoeuf 48. Proskauer Rose 49. Vinson & Elkins […]

As we roll through the next segment of the 2010 Vault rankings, we get into some firms that have been caught testing the stealth layoff waters. To refresh your memory, here is the next list of firms: 31. Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy 32. Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker 33. Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & […]

You can still call yourself prestigious if you work at the firms that make up today’s fall recruiting open thread. But once you are outside of the Vault top 20, people start talking about “firm culture” at least as much as they talk about prestige. Here’s the next batch: 21. Shearman & Sterling 22. O’Melveny […]

Let’s finish off the prestigious Vault 20. Here we have some firms on the rise, and some firms that are … not. Here is the next batch of firms: 16. WilmerHale 17. Latham & Watkins 18. Arnold & Porter 19. Jones Day 20. White & Case Okay, before we discuss Latham and White & Case, […]

Even though we are moving out of the Vault top ten, we are still firmly in the land of law firms that everybody recognizes. To refresh your memory, here is the next batch of firms on the Vault list: 11. Williams & Connolly 12. Debevoise & Plimpton 13. Paul Weiss 14. Gibson Dunn 15. Sidley […]

Moving right along with our Vault open threads, it’s time to take a look at the firms ranked #6 – #10. 6. Weil Gotshal 7. Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett 8. Cleary 9. Covington & Burling 10. Kirkland & Ellis Weil’s strong move up the Vault charts — the firm was ranked #9 last year — […]

Yesterday, the Vault rankings were released. It is time to dig into them. To refresh your memory here are the top five firms according to Vault: 1. Wachtell 2. Cravath 3. Skadden 4. Sullivan & Cromwell 5. Davis Polk As we noted yesterday, the only change in the top five is Skadden jumping over S&C. […]