Vault
recently
released
its
closely
watched
rankings
of the
nation’s
100
most
prestigious
law
firms.
It
was
there
that
we
learned
Cravath
has
held
onto
its
title
as
the
most
prestigious
firm
in
America
for
more
than
a
decade,
and
that
the
top
firms
saw
some
interesting
changes
(including
one
major
firm
leaving
the
Top
10
thanks
to
kissing
Trump’s
ring).
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.
Which
law
firms
are
considered
to
be
at
the
top
of
their
game
by
practice
area
and
region?
Let’s
find
out!
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:
Kirkland
&
Ellis -
Energy,
Oil
and
Gas:
Vinson
&
Elkins -
General
Commercial
Litigation:
Quinn
Emanuel -
General
Corporate
Practice:
Wachtell
Lipton -
Intellectual
Property:
Fish
&
Richardson -
International:
White
&
Case -
Labor
and
Employment:
Littler
Mendelson -
Private
Equity:
Kirkland
&
Ellis -
Real
Estate:
Gibson
Dunn -
Securities/Capital
Markets:
Latham
&
Watkins
(replacing
Davis
Polk) -
Tax:
Skadden
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 -
New
York:
Wachtell
Lipton -
Northern
California:
Cooley -
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.
Best
Law
Firms
by
Practice
Area
(2027) [Vault]
Best
Law
Firms
by
Region
(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
with
any
tips,
questions,
comments,
or
critiques.
You
can
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on Bluesky, X/Twitter,
and Threads, or
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with
her
on LinkedIn.