who
you
can
thank
for
your
prestige
scores
slipping.
(Image
via
ChatGPT)
What
do
associates
at
major
law
firms
care
about
more
than
money?
Prestige.
But
it
sure
is
hard
to
maintain
that
prestige
when
your
firm
has
spent
the
last
year
tying
its
brand
to
Trump
—
all
while
insisting
it
was
heroically
attempting
to
save
itself
from
his
unconstitutional
executive
orders
—
a
narrative
that
hasn’t
exactly
stopped
the
reputational
damage
from
setting
in
and
may
have
permanently
damaged
how
the
market
(and
the
future
talent
pipeline)
sees
the
firm.
The
new
Vault
100
rankings
have
arrived,
and
after
several
firms
kissed
Trump’s
ring,
perceptions
appear
to
have
shifted
—
and
not
in
the
most
flattering
direction.
Prestige,
it
seems,
has
its
limits.
In
last
year’s
Vault
100
rankings,
Cravath
—
the
firm
that
brought
the
associate
salary
scale
all
the
way up
to
$415,000 back
in
February
2022
—
managed
to
retain
its
number
1
spot,
while
Wachtell
Lipton
held
steady
in
second
place.
Was
Cravath
able
to
keep
its
cachet
as
the
most
prestigious
Biglaw
firm
in
the
country
in
this
year’s
Vault
rankings?
Of
course
it
was.
Cravath
has
now
claimed
the
top
spot
in
the
Vault
100
for
more
than
a
decade
(11
years),
which
is
a
remarkable
milestone.
There
was
some
movement
when
it
came
to
the
most
elite
firms
in
the
rankings
—
including
one
Trump-allegiant
firm
getting
the
boot
from
the
Top
10
entirely.
That
said,
here
are
the
Top
10
Most
Prestigious
Law
Firms,
based
on
Vault’s
Annual
Associate
Survey
for
2027.
-
Cravath
Swaine
&
Moore -
Wachtell
Lipton
Rosen
&
Katz - Skadden
-
Latham
&
Watkins -
Sullivan
&
Cromwell -
Kirkland
&
Ellis -
Davis
Polk
&
Wardwell -
Gibson
Dunn - Milbank
-
Simpson
Thacher
This
is
the
ninth
year
in
a
row
that
the
majority
of
these
firms
have
been
in
the
Top
10.
As
you
can
see,
however,
there
were
not
only
some
fluctuations
in
rank
among
them,
but
one
firm
is
also
missing
from
the
usual
suspects,
while
a
new
one
has
entered
to
take
its
place.
It’s
worth
noting
that
each
of
the
five
firms
in
the
Top
10
that
made
deals
with
Trump
—
Skadden,
Latham,
Kirkland,
Milbank,
and
Simpson
Thacher
—
saw
their
average
scores
drop.
SullCrom
switched
places
with
Kirkland,
and
Gibson
Dunn
is
back
in
the
Top
10
now
that
Paul
Weiss,
the
very
first
firm
to
bow
to
Trump,
has
been
kicked
to
the
curb.
The
firm
now
finds
itself
at
No.
13
after
an
eight-year
stint
at
the
top.
Three
other
firms
in
this
ranking
made
deals
with
Trump
—
A&O
Shearman,
Cadwalader,
and
Willkie
Farr
—
and
only
A&O
Shearman
managed
to
see
a
rankings
jump
(thanks
to
a
megamerger),
while
the
other
two
saw
their
rankings
drop.
In
fact,
Cadwalader
had
the
largest
drop
of
all
firms
(8
spots),
thanks
to
partners
fleeing
the
firm
in
the
wake
of
its
Trump
deal.
On
the
flip
side
of
the
coin,
as
we
predicted,
the
firms
that
are
fighting
the
Trump
administration
in
court
are
being
rewarded
with
rankings
gains.
Jenner
&
Block
had
the
greatest
increase
of
all,
moving
up
17
spots.
Also
moving
up
are
WilmerHale
(2
spots),
Perkins
Coie
(4
spots),
and
Susman
Godfrey
(4
spots,
and
now
in
the
Top
20
of
the
ranking).
That
outcome
on
the
Vault
prestige
rankings
shouldn’t
raise
any
eyebrows.
We
noted
last
year
that
these
decisions
were
unlikely
to
be
consequence-free,
and
the
latest
rankings
bear
that
out.
Making
deals
with
Trump
was
an
absolutely
horrible
idea.
Associates
have
now
said
their
piece,
and
the
message
is
clear:
some
reputational
mistakes
stick,
and
dedication
to
the
rule
of
law
is
the
most
prestigious
currency
in
the
legal
profession
right
now.
Click here to
see
the
rest
of
Vault’s
prestige
rankings.
Congratulations
to
all
of
the
Biglaw
firms
that
made
the
latest
edition
of
the
Vault
100
rankings.
How
did
your
firm
do
this
time
around? Email
us,
text
us
at
(646)
820-8477,
or
tweet
us @atlblog to
let
us
know
how
you
feel.
Vault’s
Top
100
Law
Firms
For
2027 [Vault]
Staci
Zaretsky is
the
managing
editor
of
Above
the
Law,
where
she’s
worked
since
2011.
She’d
love
to
hear
from
you,
so
please
feel
free
to email her
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