The 2017 A-List Arrives To Salve That Itch You Had For Another Law Firm Ranking This Week
The top 10 law firms around.
On Monday, Law360 ranked the best law firms for women to make partner, and on Tuesday, Working Mother ranked the best law firms for women, so obviously we needed another ranking to drop this week or lawyers across America would begin to suffer seizures. It seems like just last week we were having a serious industry conversation about the need to scale back rankings and awards. Life in this business comes at you fast.
Now we have the 2017 A-List from American Lawyer. Not familiar with this one?
Our annual A-List ranking has always aimed to highlight the most well-rounded firms—the best of the best, if you will. On this list, profits don’t reign supreme, nor does size.
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That would be the obligatory veiled reference to the Am Law 200 and the NLJ 500, two rankings put out by the very same company that produced this ranking. It’s that gentle lampshading that they’re fully aware that it’s ludicrous that they’re just pumping out rankings of the exact same firms because lawyers just can’t help but look at them.
Not that there’s anything wrong with a few rankings. We have a law firm ranking here at Above the Law, but that’s our only effort at ranking the overall quality of firms. And there’s nothing wrong with rankings that focus on specific metrics. The two rankings released earlier this week with the narrow focus on women in the law are valuable tools. But the “A-List” is just another attempt at bestowing some fictional “overall quality” measure on law firms by futzing with the methodology. It’s right there in the name!
Oh well. If this A-List isn’t a measure of financial success or headcount — seriously, the NLJ 500 is a counting exercise — then what is the A-List?
Since its inception, the A-List has recognized firms based on a combination of factors, both financial and cultural: revenue per lawyer, pro bono commitment, associate satisfaction and racial diversity, with RPL and pro bono given double weight.
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Sure. So it’s the richest firms tempered by a good citizenship measure.
Not to downplay the importance of pro bono work, but it seems arbitrary to give that double weight over diversity and satisfaction. If the goal is truly to recognize firm culture, their internal practices should matter more than their client representations, right?
This year, the A-List also includes a female equity partnership score, which seems like a natural fit for the philosophy of this ranking. Actually, it’s hard to believe they hadn’t been doing this before. It turns out this had a big impact on the list, pulling Paul Weiss into the top 10 and sending Milbank to the 11th slot.
The full top-20 firms and their scores are listed at the American Lawyer. But here’s the top 10 for your insatiable appetite for rankings:
1. Munger, Tolles & Olson
2. Ropes & Gray
3. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind,
Wharton & Garrison
4. Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr
5. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
6. Debevoise
& Plimpton
7. Paul Hastings
8. Shearman & Sterling
9. Covington & Burling
10. Orrick,
Herrington
& Sutcliffe
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Congratulations on making the A-List. And if your firm didn’t make this list, then just wait a week and you’ll probably make the next set of rankings they put out.
The 2017 A-List [American Lawyer]
Introducing the New and Improved A-List [American Lawyer]
Earlier: Best Biglaw Firms For Women Who Actually Want To Make Partner
The 50 Best Law Firms For Women (2017)
The 2017 Am Law 200: Keep Calm And Carry On
The 500 Largest Law Firms
Joe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.
