5 Biglaw Firms Make Fortune’s List Of The ‘Best Companies to Work For’ (2018)
Which law firms made the cut this year?
Which law firm offers big money AND big fun?
For more than 20 years, Fortune has released a list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For. Each year, a few law firms manage to sneak their way onto a list that includes employers like Wegmans, Cheesecake Factory, and Deloitte. With companies like that on the list, each year we wonder if the people at Fortune have any idea what they’re talking about — after all, there’s no way a law firm could possibly perform on a similar level.
We try to cover this list every year (see our posts in 2016, 2015, 2014, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, and 2007). In 2017, five law firms made the list: Cooley (#25), Perkins Coie (#53), Alston & Bird (#65), Baker Donelson (#95), and Orrick (#96).
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This year, five Biglaw firms made the list. Which firms had pay that was high enough, perks that were good enough, and environments that were nurturing enough?
The five Biglaw firms on this year’s list are… the five firms that made last year’s list. It’s worth noting that most of the five firms from last year’s list more or less retained their Fortune ranking, give or take a few slots, but one of them has continued its meteoric rise to the top for the third year in a row.
Congratulations to the following five firms on being fun enough for Fortune:
- Cooley: ranked #18, up from #25 last year
- Orrick: ranked #31, up from #96 last year
- Perkins Coie: ranked #58, down from #53 last year
- Alston & Bird: ranked #79, down from #65 last year
- Baker Donelson: ranked #96, down from #95 last year
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Cooley is now listed among the top 20 companies evaluated by Fortune, and Orrick now ranks among the top third of all companies on the list.
At Cooley, “karaoke matters as much as contracts,” and 67 percent of its workforce are women, while 32 percent are minorities. Even partners at Cooley like to have fun:
(Photo via Cooley LLP)
At Orrick, the firm gives away $50,000 each year for the best office innovation idea. Mitch Zuklie, the firm’s chairman and CEO, says that the firm is “innovating to attract, retain and inspire both lawyer and staff talent.” Check out the firm’s D.C. office, hanging out with summer associates on a boating adventure:
(Photo via Orrick)
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Readers, have these rankings actually been earned? Can you think of a law firm that deserves to be recognized, but hasn’t been? Please feel free to give us your thoughts.
100 Best Companies To Work For (2018) [Fortune]
Staci Zaretsky has been an editor at Above the Law since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.
