Biglaw, Rankings

Which Law Firms Are The Best Places To Work In NYC? (2016)

Which law firms are considered the cream of the crop in the city that never sleeps?

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Winner money happySince 2008, Crain’s New York Business has produced a list of the Best Places to Work in New York City. Each year, a few law firms sneak onto the list, much like the situation with Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For list.

This year, seven law firms made Crain’s list, while only six made Fortune’s list, as of March 2016. Just two firms overlap between Crain’s and Fortune’s lists.

Which ones are considered the cream of the crop in the city that never sleeps?

Before we get to the top law firms to work for, let’s check out Crain’s methodology:

[Crain’s New York Business partnered with] Best Companies Group [to] conduct[] a simple yet thorough company assessment. The assessment is a two-part process designed to gather detailed data about each participating company. In part one, the employer completes a questionnaire and in part two, employees of the company complete an employee survey [with questions focused on everything from benefits to opportunities for advancement].

The collected information from the two instruments will be combined to produce a detailed set of data enabling the analysts to determine the strengths and opportunities of the participating companies. The workplaces are ranked based on this data.

We should also mention that there is a $199 fee to participate Best Places to Work in New York City ranking, with an additional fee on top of that if your company needs paper-based surveys. If you don’t pay, you don’t get to play, and you won’t be able to receive the bragging rights attendant with being a “best place to work for.”

These are the seven law firms on Crain’s 2016 Best Places to Work in NYC list:

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  • Adam Leitman Bailey
  • Alston & Bird
  • Cooley
  • Drinker Biddle
  • Frankfurt Kurnit
  • Sheppard Mullin
  • WilmerHale

Alston & Bird and Cooley are the only firms to appear on both Crain’s list and Fortune’s list. Congratulations to both firms for this high achievement. Getting people to fill out questionnaires (that you had to pay for, in advance) can be excrutiatingly painful!

Vivia Chen of The Careerist had some color commentary on the Crain’s list:

[I]sn’t it curious how indigenous big New York firms seldom (actually, never) make those lists of “best” or “nicest” or “happiest” places to work? …

The only true New York firms are Adam Leitman Bailey, a real estate boutique, and Frankfurt Kurnit, an entertainment specialty shop.

So here’s the subtext: Big, powerful New York firms don’t need those “pleasant to work” awards. That’s for small fries and out-of-towners.

Have these rankings actually been earned? Can you think of a law firm that deserves to be recognized, but hasn’t been? Email us or text us (646-820-8477) and let us know.

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Crain’s unveils the 100 Best Places to Work in New York City in 2016 [Crain’s New York Business]
7 Firms (Not on Wall Street) Make ‘Best Place to Work’ List [The Careerist / Law.com]

Staci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. Follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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