What do associates at main legislation companies care about greater than cash? Status. However in occasions like these, when Biglaw companies are signing away their very legacies to appease Donald Trump’s unconstitutional whims, being a frontrunner in terms of compensation will not be sufficient to rescue a agency’s floundering status. Besides, after all, when the surveys for probably the most consequential rating on status, the Vault 100, have been due a single day after the primary main agency kissed Trump’s ring on March 20. As luck would have it, legal professionals sending of their responses have been blissfully unaware of what was but to return. So, whereas the intently watched Vault rankings are right here, they appear to replicate a time passed by, earlier than a number of the so-called most prestigious companies within the nation began flushing their reputations down a golden rest room.
Whereas we predicted that at the least a number of of the companies that signed offers with Trump might be negatively impacted in the Vault rankings, we suppose they’ll have to attend till subsequent 12 months to face the implications of their actions. For now, journey with us by one other dimension and droop your disbelief as we study a set of legislation agency rankings straight out of the Twilight Zone.
In final 12 months’s Vault 100 rankings, Cravath — the agency that introduced the affiliate wage scale all the way in which up to $415,000 again in February 2022 — managed to retain its number one spot, whereas Wachtell Lipton held regular in second place. Was Cravath in a position to preserve its cachet as probably the most prestigious Biglaw agency within the nation on this 12 months’s Vault rankings?
Clearly. Cravath has now claimed a decade within the prime spot within the Vault 100, which is a outstanding milestone. There was some motion when it got here to probably the most elite companies within the rankings — together with one main agency getting into the High 10 for the primary time ever. Listed here are the High 10 Most Prestigious Legislation Companies, primarily based on Vault’s Annual Affiliate 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
That is the eighth 12 months in a row that almost all of those companies have been within the High 10. As you possibly can see, nevertheless, there weren’t just some fluctuations in rank amongst them, however one agency can be lacking from the same old suspects, whereas a brand new one has entered to take its place. Kirkland switched locations with SullCrom, and Gibson Dunn misplaced its place within the High 10 to Milbank, debuting at No. 9 after introducing special bonuses to Biglaw in 2024 that ultimately caught on like wildfire.
Sure, greater than half of the companies within the High 10 inked deals with Trump, however we are going to once more be aware that Vault’s survey was performed from January 28, 2025 to March 21, 2025, which left the platform unable to seize the battle for the rule of legislation in America. We nonetheless love Vault, however we must wait till subsequent 12 months to see how the response to Trump’s revenge tour in opposition to legal professionals and legislation companies impacts Biglaw associates’ evaluation of legislation companies.
Click on here to see the remainder of Vault’s status rankings.
Congratulations to the entire Biglaw companies that made the newest version of the Vault 100 rankings. How did your agency do that time round? Email us, textual content us at (646) 820-8477, or tweet us @atlblog to tell us how you are feeling.
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 Legislation, the place she’s labored since 2011. She’d love to listen to from you, so please be happy to email her with any suggestions, questions, feedback, or critiques. You may comply with her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or join together with her on LinkedIn.
