Above the Law’s Outside Counsel Rankings: Who You Gonna Call?

Which firms do in-house counsel call on most often for routine legal work? Who do they turn to when their company can’t afford to lose?

Every year since 2018, Above the Law has published a list of the top law firms in the country, based on the insights of those who know best — the in-house attorneys who hire them.

We survey in-house counsel about their outside law firms, asking them which firms they rely on most and for what kind of work.

ATL’s Outside Counsel Rankings are based not on deal volume, partner profits, or size, but on the aspect most fundamental to a law firm’s business — what their clients think of them.

Methodology

Between June and November 2025, we reached out to general counsel and in-house attorneys at organizations across the country for their insights. Approximately 550 in-house lawyers shared feedback about their organizations’ outside law firms.

Our survey was direct. We asked counsel two simple questions: 1) “Which law firms does your company engage for legal services?” and 2) “Please indicate the highest level legal work for which your company will engage the particular firm(s).” The levels of work were defined along a four-point scale:

  • Cost-efficient, bulk tasks (1)
  • Routine matters (2)
  • High-value, complex matters (3)
  • “Bet-the-company” matters (4)

Because of the “blunt instrument” nature of our question, the resultant ratings are inapt for the purposes of an ordinal ranking. Thus, our top tier and second tier lists include the 75 firms with the highest mean ratings based on this scale, presented in alphabetical order. Only firms with a minimum threshold number of ratings were eligible for inclusion.

In addition to the overall ranking of top outside counsel, we have compiled separate lists of the top-rated law firms based on the industries and types of organizations in which in-house attorneys work.

Outside Counsel:
Top Tier Firms

  • Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
  • Arnold & Porter
  • Cooley
  • Cravath, Swaine & Moore
  • Davis Polk & Wardwell
  • Debevoise & Plimpton
  • Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
  • Jenner & Block
  • Jones Day
  • Kirkland & Ellis
  • Latham & Watkins
  • Mayer Brown
  • O’Melveny & Myers
  • Paul Hastings
  • Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
  • Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan
  • Ropes & Gray
  • Sidley Austin
  • Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
  • Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
  • Sullivan & Cromwell
  • Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
  • Williams & Connolly
  • Willkie Farr & Gallagher
  • WilmerHale

Outside Counsel:
Second Tier Firms

  • A&O Shearman
  • Akerman
  • Alston & Bird
  • ArentFox Schiff
  • Baker & Hostetler
  • Baker & McKenzie
  • Barnes & Thornburg
  • Blank Rome
  • Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner
  • Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
  • Clifford Chance
  • Covington & Burling
  • Cozen O’Connor
  • Crowell & Moring
  • Davis Wright Tremaine
  • Dechert
  • Dentons
  • DLA Piper
  • Duane Morris
  • Epstein Becker & Green
  • Fisher Phillips
  • Foley & Lardner
  • Freshfields
  • Goodwin Procter
  • Greenberg Traurig
  • Haynes and Boone
  • Hogan Lovells
  • Holland & Knight
  • Jackson Lewis
  • K&L Gates
  • King & Spalding
  • Littler Mendelson
  • McDermott Will & Schulte
  • McGuireWoods
  • Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
  • Morrison & Foerster
  • Nelson Mullins
  • Norton Rose Fulbright
  • Ogletree Deakins
  • Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe
  • Perkins Coie
  • Polsinelli
  • Proskauer Rose
  • Reed Smith
  • Seyfarth Shaw
  • Sheppard Mullin
  • Troutman Pepper Locke
  • Vinson & Elkins
  • Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
  • Winston & Strawn

Top Outside Counsel by
Industry

Finance/Banking

  • A&O Shearman
  • Cooley
  • Davis Polk & Wardwell
  • Debevoise & Plimpton
  • Jones Day
  • Kirkland & Ellis
  • Latham & Watkins
  • Mayer Brown
  • Paul Hastings
  • Proskauer Rose
  • Sidley Austin
  • Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
  • Sullivan & Cromwell
  • Willkie Farr & Gallagher
  • WilmerHale

Healthcare-Life Sciences-Pharma

  • Arnold & Porter
  • Baker & McKenzie
  • Cooley
  • Covington & Burling
  • Hogan Lovells
  • Jones Day
  • King & Spalding
  • Latham & Watkins
  • McDermott Will & Schulte
  • Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
  • Polsinelli
  • Ropes & Gray
  • Sidley Austin
  • WilmerHale
  • Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Technology

  • Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
  • Kirkland & Ellis
  • Latham & Watkins
  • Morrison & Foerster
  • Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe

Top Outside Counsel by
Organization

Fortune 250 Companies

  • Baker & McKenzie
  • Davis Polk & Wardwell
  • Dentons
  • DLA Piper
  • Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
  • Jenner & Block
  • Jones Day
  • Latham & Watkins
  • Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
  • Perkins Coie

Fortune 500 Companies

  • Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner
  • Covington & Burling
  • Cravath, Swaine & Moore
  • Dentons
  • Hogan Lovells
  • Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
  • Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan
  • Ropes & Gray
  • Sidley Austin
  • WilmerHale

Fortune 1000 Companies

  • Baker & McKenzie
  • Blank Rome
  • DLA Piper
  • Kirkland & Ellis
  • Sidley Austin

Other Public Companies

  • Alston & Bird
  • Cooley
  • Latham & Watkins
  • Sidley Austin
  • WilmerHale

Large Private Companies

  • Baker & Hostetler
  • Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
  • DLA Piper
  • Fisher Phillips
  • Holland & Knight
  • Kirkland & Ellis
  • Latham & Watkins
  • Littler Mendelson
  • Ogletree Deakins
  • Seyfarth Shaw
  • Sidley Austin

Midsize Private Companies

  • Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
  • Kirkland & Ellis
  • Latham & Watkins
  • Reed Smith
  • Sidley Austin

Small Private Companies

  • Cooley
  • Kirkland & Ellis
  • McDermott Will & Schulte
  • Ropes & Gray
  • Sidley Austin

Nonprofit Institutions

  • Cooley
  • Davis Wright Tremaine
  • K&L Gates
  • Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
  • Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe

Questions about our rankings?

Contact us at [email protected].