Vault recently released its closely watched rankings of the nation’s 100 most prestigious law firms. It was there that we learned Cravath held onto its title as the most prestigious firm in America for the eighth year in a row, and that the Top 10 firms remained largely static (save for some relatively inconsequential flip flops).
But what if your firm wasn’t top-ranked in the Vault 100? Perhaps your firm isn’t the most prestigious, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have clout. Some law firms reign supreme when it comes to certain practice areas, and others are known to dominate entire regions of the country.
Paying for Law School in 2025: A Straight-Talk Playbook
Juno has consistently secured the best private loan deals for students at the Top MBA programs since 2018—now they’re bringing that same offer to law students, at no cost. Students can check their personalized offers at juno.us/atl This article is for general information only and is not personal financial advice.
For the purposes of the practice area ranking, Vault asked associates to vote for up to three firms they think of as the strongest in their own practice area, and the overall ranking indicates the firms that received the highest percentage of votes. Associates were not allowed to vote for their own firm. Pay attention, prospective laterals, because this ranking could be quite useful for you.
We’ve picked out a dozen of the practice areas that were ranked by Vault (you can see the full list by clicking here):
Appellate Litigation: Williams & Connolly
Bankruptcy/Restructuring: Cleary Gottlieb
Energy, Oil and Gas: Vinson & Elkins
General Commercial Litigation: Quinn Emanuel
General Corporate Practice: Kirkland & Ellis (replacing Cravath)
Intellectual Property: Fish & Richardson
International: White & Case
Labor and Employment: Littler Mendelson
Private Equity: Kirkland & Ellis
Real Estate: Gibson Dunn (replacing Fried Frank)
Securities/Capital Markets: Davis Polk
Tax: Skadden
Skills That Set Firms Apart
Legal expertise alone isn’t enough. Today’s most successful firms invest in developing the skills that drive collaboration, leadership, and business growth. Our on-demand, customizable training modules deliver practical, high-impact learning for attorneys and staff—when and where they need it.
Next up, we’ve got a ranking that matters to those who think “location, location, location” is the most important thing in life. Vault’s regional rankings are based on votes tabulated from associates who were asked to rate firms on a 1 to 10 scale based on their prestige within the region.
Here’s the list of prestige by region from Vault (you can see the full list here):
Atlanta: King & Spalding
Boston: Ropes & Gray
Chicago: Kirkland & Ellis
Florida: Holland & Knight
Mid-Atlantic: Skadden
Midwest: Kirkland & Ellis
Mountain States: Gibson Dunn (replacing Perkins Coie)
New York: Cravath
Northern California: Morrison & Foerster
Pacific Northwest: Perkins Coie
South Atlantic: King & Spalding (replacing Alston & Bird)
Southern California: Latham & Watkins
Texas: Vinson & Elkins
Washington, DC: Covington & Burling
Congratulations to the firms that moved up in this year’s practice area and regional rankings, and congratulations to all the firms that made the cut in the first place. It must be nice to see which firms associates consider as their peers in prestige, and it must be even nicer for partners to know whose pricing models they need to undercut the next time around.
Announcing the 2025 Vault 100, Practice Area Prestige, and Regional Prestige Rankings [Vault]
Best Law Firms by Practice Area (2025) [Vault]
Best Law Firms by Region (2025) [Vault]
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked 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 X/Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.