What
do
associates
at
major
law
firms
care
about
more
than
money?
Prestige. But
in
times
like
these,
when
Biglaw
firms
are signing
away
their
very
legacies to
appease
Donald
Trump’s
unconstitutional
whims,
being
a
leader
when
it
comes
to
compensation
may
not
be
enough
to
rescue
a
firm’s
floundering
prestige.
Except,
of
course,
when
the
surveys
for
the
most
consequential
ranking
on
prestige,
the
Vault
100,
were
due
a
single
day
after
the
first
major
firm
kissed
Trump’s
ring
on
March
20.
As
luck
would
have
it,
lawyers
sending
in
their
responses
were
blissfully
unaware
of
what
was
yet
to
come.
So,
while
the
closely
watched
Vault
rankings
are
here,
they
seem
to
reflect
a
time
gone
by,
before
some
of
the
so-called
most
prestigious
firms
in
the
nation
started
flushing
their
reputations
down
a
golden
toilet.
While
we
predicted
that
at
least
several
of
the
firms
that
signed
deals
with
Trump
could
be
negatively
impacted
in
the
Vault
rankings,
we
suppose
they’ll
have
to
wait
until
next
year
to
face
the
consequences
of
their
actions.
For
now,
travel
with
us
through
another
dimension
and
suspend
your
disbelief
as
we
examine
a
set
of
law
firm
rankings
straight
out
of
the
Twilight
Zone.
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?
Obviously.
Cravath
has
now
claimed
a
decade
in
the
top
spot
in
the
Vault
100,
which
is
a
remarkable
milestone.
There
was
some
movement
when
it
came
to
the
most
elite
firms
in
the
rankings
—
including
one
major
firm
entering
the
Top
10
for
the
first
time
ever.
Here
are
the
Top
10
Most
Prestigious
Law
Firms,
based
on
Vault’s
Annual
Associate
Survey
for
2026.
-
Cravath
Swaine
&
Moore -
Wachtell
Lipton
Rosen
&
Katz - Skadden
-
Latham
&
Watkins -
Kirkland
&
Ellis -
Sullivan
&
Cromwell -
Davis
Polk
&
Wardwell -
Paul
Weiss
Rifkind
Wharton
&
Garrison - Milbank
-
Simpson
Thacher
This
is
the
eighth
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.
Kirkland
switched
places
with
SullCrom,
and
Gibson
Dunn
lost
its
place
in
the
Top
10
to
Milbank,
debuting
at
No.
9
after
introducing
special
bonuses
to
Biglaw
in
2024
that
eventually
caught
on
like
wildfire.
Yes,
more
than
half
of
the
firms
in
the
Top
10
inked
deals
with
Trump,
but
we
will
again
note
that
Vault’s
survey
was
conducted
from January
28,
2025
to
March
21,
2025,
which
left
the
platform
unable
to
capture
the
battle
for
the
rule
of
law
in
America.
We
still
love
Vault,
but
we
will
have
to
wait
until
next
year
to
see
how
the
response
to
Trump’s
revenge
tour
against
lawyers
and
law
firms
impacts
Biglaw
associates’
assessment
of
law
firms.
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
2025 [Vault]
VAULT
LAW
RELEASES
2026
RANKINGS
FOR
ITS
TOP
100
LAW
FIRMS,
BEST
LAW
FIRMS
BY
REGION,
AND
BEST
LAW
FIRMS
BY
PRACTICE
AREA
[PR
Newswire]
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
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on Bluesky, X/Twitter,
and Threads, or
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her
on LinkedIn.
