Biglaw

The Most Prestigious Biglaw Firms In The Country

The top 10 revealed.

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biggest biglaw lawyerPrestige matters to law firms… though it’s hard to put a finger on why. In-house counsel are hardly unsophisticated consumers, so they can quickly see through any artiface and find the lawyers that can deliver results. If that’s a global megafirm or a boutique down the street doesn’t really phase them. Associates flock to prestige like moths to the flame and talent down the assembly line matters, but other considerations can sway associates too.

Ultimately, maybe it’s client board members who matter most on this score. They’re the ones a chief legal officer has to calm when it’s time to bet the company. The maxim used to be “no one gets fired for hiring Cravath,” but there’s a band of firms that occupy that space in client minds. It means prestige might not matter past the Crème de LAW Crème, but at a certain level of elite, it matters a lot.

In any event, Law360 Pulse set out to gauge firm prestige in 2021.

Now, measuring firm prestige isn’t necessarily obvious. It’s not like you can tell which law firm sticks its pinky out while sipping tea. So Law360 came up with this methodology to determine their ranking: Financial Health (measured by PPP), Desirability (measured by Law360’s Summer Associate Survey), Editorial Awards (measured by trying to drive clicks to past Law360 ranking articles industry accolades[1]), and News Coverage (using LexisNexis Metabase to compile coverage from multiple publications including Above the Law).

Given those parameters, here’s the top 10. Law360 has a ranking going all the way to 100:

  1. Kirkland             
  2. Latham              
  3. Davis Polk
  4. Gibson Dunn
  5. Paul Weiss
  6. Wachtell
  7. Simpson Thacher
  8. Debevoise
  9. Sidley Austin
  10. Quinn Emanuel

So much for the antiquated notion that top-tier law begins and ends in New York. Sure, everyone has an NYC outpost, but the white-shoe world is joined by Wachtell (still an upstart when talking about the likes of Davis Polk), a handful of West Coast heavies, all chasing Kirkland, with its scrappy rise to dominance.

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Perhaps that’s the most important takeaway: to whatever extent top-tier prestige matters in this industry, it’s no longer a function of longevity. There are names on this firm list of people who are still alive! That would’ve been unthinkable at times in the past.

Prestige is fluid and firms willing to put in the hustle, like Kirkland did, can find themselves rocketing up the rankings. It’s out there… go get it.

2021 Law360 Pulse Prestige Leaders [Law360 Pulse]

[1] No shame in the legal publishing game.

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HeadshotJoe Patrice is a senior 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. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

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