2020 Vault Law Firm Rankings Released Forum

[xtremenite]

https://www.vault.com/best-companies-to ... s-rankings

1. Cravath
2. Wachtell
3. Skadden
4. S&C
5. Latham
6. Kirkland (+)
7. DPW (-)
8. STB (-)
9. GDC
10. PW
11. Weil
12. Sidley (+)
13. Quinn (-)
14. Cleary
15. Covington

[yooobagz]

Milbank jumping 15 spots because they put some extra scratch in people's pockets...just as God intended.

[DoveBodyWash]

Davis Polk what the fuck.

[Wild Card]

Davis Polk what the fuck.

It's more "why does anyone think Kirkland and Latham are good firms?"

[QContinuum]

Davis Polk what the fuck.

It's more "why does anyone think Kirkland and Latham are good firms?"

Law students/juniors these days, I've found, are by and large unaware of the "Lathamings" of last decade.

Kirkland I think gets an especially great rep for its "market-shattering" bonuses.

[DoveBodyWash]

Davis Polk what the fuck.

It's more "why does anyone think Kirkland and Latham are good firms?"

I was promised durable prestige in exchange for suffocating "flourish-where-we-plant-you" passive aggression, cafeteria holiday parties and cheap [insert anything]. V7, V100, what's the difference.

[DoveBodyWash]

Davis Polk what the fuck.

It's more "why does anyone think Kirkland and Latham are good firms?"

I was promised durable prestige in exchange for suffocating "flourish-where-we-plant-you" passive aggression, cafeteria holiday parties and cheap [insert anything]. V7, V100, what's the difference.

Anon by accident.

This was me. DPW you POS, summer bonus right now and redeem yourselves.

[LaLiLuLeLo]

Milbank jumping 15 spots because they put some extra scratch in people's pockets...just as God intended.

I guarantee the partners are absolutely chuffed

[Wild Card]

Milbank jumping 15 spots because they put some extra scratch in people's pockets...just as God intended.

I guarantee the partners are absolutely chuffed

Academic Year Budget
$101,345

https://www.law.columbia.edu/financial- ... -budgeting

Total
$99,858

https://www.law.nyu.edu/financialaid/bu ... ensebudget

--

Any benefit has been totally recaptured by the law schools.

[biglaw_advice]

It's been said here a thousand times, but for any law students looking to decide between firms, take these lists with a grain of salt. They can be useful with all else being equal - but rarely is all else equal. You'll have a better feel for one firm or the other by your own research, interviews, or (the best option) talking with associates at those firms.

When you go to a firm, you are working for a group of people that will have an incredible impact on your day to day happiness and overall well-being. These lists can't help you decide how you will end up in that group. The only way (in my experience) is to talk to associates at those firms to get a feel for their lives in their specific groups. I'm a midlevel at a big firm and have a completely different work life than the associate in the next office. We're even in the same umbrella group but have different sub-groups.

In case it helps any rising 2Ls/3Ls combing through the vault list, here are some more thoughts on how working in a firm depends so, so much on what group/sub-group you end up working in: https://biglawadvice.com/2019/04/27/you ... -law-firm/

[Yeezus.]

Sad that this list will trick unsuspecting rising 2Ls into going to Latham & Kirkland LOL.

[icansortofmath]

All the Kirkland associates I've met recently have been happy drunks.

Come to think of it, may be problematic they were all drunk.

[QContinuum]

It's been said here a thousand times, but for any law students looking to decide between firms, take these lists with a grain of salt. They can be useful with all else being equal - but rarely is all else equal. You'll have a better feel for one firm or the other by your own research, interviews, or (the best option) talking with associates at those firms.

When you go to a firm, you are working for a group of people that will have an incredible impact on your day to day happiness and overall well-being. These lists can't help you decide how you will end up in that group. The only way (in my experience) is to talk to associates at those firms to get a feel for their lives in their specific groups. I'm a midlevel at a big firm and have a completely different work life than the associate in the next office. We're even in the same umbrella group but have different sub-groups.

In case it helps any rising 2Ls/3Ls combing through the vault list, here are some more thoughts on how working in a firm depends so, so much on what group/sub-group you end up working in: https://biglawadvice.com/2019/04/27/you ... -law-firm/

The above is TCR here. Firms differ - to a surprisingly large extent! - in terms of culture. Don't pooh-pooh it; it can really make a huge difference in your day-to-day happiness/ability to put up with the workload. Someone who loves the culture at Debevoise, for example, is likely to be miserable at Kirkland (and vice versa). That person would be ill-served by choosing Kirkland over Deb based on the Vault rankings.

[Tenzen]

Davis Polk what the fuck.

It's more "why does anyone think Kirkland and Latham are good firms?"

Law students/juniors these days, I've found, are by and large unaware of the "Lathamings" of last decade.

Kirkland I think gets an especially great rep for its "market-shattering" bonuses.

Lathaming should never be forgotten.

As to Kirkland, curious if the summer associate firing will impact next year's rank.

And kudos to Milbank. Much deserved.

[LaLiLuLeLo]

Milbank jumping 15 spots because they put some extra scratch in people's pockets...just as God intended.

I guarantee the partners are absolutely chuffed

Academic Year Budget
$101,345

https://www.law.columbia.edu/financial- ... -budgeting

Total
$99,858

https://www.law.nyu.edu/financialaid/bu ... ensebudget

--

Any benefit has been totally recaptured by the law schools.

Lol I don’t think the partners care about how much law school is. They just care about prefffffstige and their own paychecks. I had a partner bitch about the raises because they’re for “no reason”. I mentioned that it’s helpful because most of us have a ton of loans and he said “what’s the average these days, $40k? $50k?”

Never underestimate how out of touch pantherns are

[cavalier1138]

As to Kirkland, curious if the summer associate firing will impact next year's rank.

Did I miss something?

[QContinuum]

As to Kirkland, curious if the summer associate firing will impact next year's rank.

Did I miss something?

Yea, I don't think there's anything to suggest that the fired summer from the other thread was summering at Kirkland. (In fact, many have questioned whether there was an actual firing at all or if it was simply a troll.)

[Ultramar vistas]

Davis Polk what the fuck.

It's more "why does anyone think Kirkland and Latham are good firms?"

Law students/juniors these days, I've found, are by and large unaware of the "Lathamings" of last decade.

Kirkland I think gets an especially great rep for its "market-shattering" bonuses.

As to Kirkland, curious if the summer associate firing will impact next year's rank.

Why on earth would firing a summer (not that Kirkland did, as far as I know) impact how associates fill in the vault survey? You know most associates (jokingly... but still...) feel like about a third of the summer class should be fired, right?

[10b5-1]

Sad that this list will trick unsuspecting rising 2Ls into going to Latham & Kirkland LOL.

Yeesh, being salty about vault rankings is almost as embarrassing as using them to choose a firm.

[spidey314]

Davis Polk what the fuck.

It's more "why does anyone think Kirkland and Latham are good firms?"

I was promised durable prestige in exchange for suffocating "flourish-where-we-plant-you" passive aggression, cafeteria holiday parties and cheap [insert anything]. V7, V100, what's the difference.

+1

It's too bad these rankings came out after we had our annual town hall...would have loved to see someone ask Tom Reid for his parting thoughts.

[oblig.lawl.ref]

Davis Polk what the fuck.

It's more "why does anyone think Kirkland and Latham are good firms?"

Lol yes.

[SLS_AMG]

The Vault rankings have always been of dubious import, but they've truly outlived their usefulness with the publication of this list. Latham a top-5 firm?! Kirkland at 6?! The idea that either of those firms is "more prestigious" than Davis Polk, Simpson Thacher or Cleary Gottlieb is preposterous, unless prestige is somehow an analog for lower hiring standards, lower billable rates and lower desirability among recruits.

It's truly asinine that the critical mass of idiots voting in this poll have come to view having 1 billion offices, 2 billion lawyers and $10 billion in revenue as some measure of prestige, when by most any rational person's standards such levels of ubiquity and accessibility would indicate the opposite. I guess Latham, Kirkland and Skadden can continue their inexorable marches to the top of these farcical rankings. CSM, S&C, DPW, STB and CGSH will continue to fight over law school students, and I suppose LW, K&E and Skadden will continue fighting over their leftovers, regardless of what Vault says.

[Man from Nantucket]

This thread should be retitled: “Butthurt DPW associates whining about their lack of prestige from their tiny hovel offices”

[rahulg91]

This thread should be retitled: “Butthurt DPW associates whining about their lack of prestige from their tiny hovel offices”

[rahulg91]

The Vault rankings have always been of dubious import, but they've truly outlived their usefulness with the publication of this list. Latham a top-5 firm?! Kirkland at 6?! The idea that either of those firms is "more prestigious" than Davis Polk, Simpson Thacher or Cleary Gottlieb is preposterous, unless prestige is somehow an analog for lower hiring standards, lower billable rates and lower desirability among recruits.

It's truly asinine that the critical mass of idiots voting in this poll have come to view having 1 billion offices, 2 billion lawyers and $10 billion in revenue as some measure of prestige, when by most any rational person's standards such levels of ubiquity and accessibility would indicate the opposite. I guess Latham, Kirkland and Skadden can continue their inexorable marches to the top of these farcical rankings. CSM, S&C, DPW, STB and CGSH will continue to fight over law school students, and I suppose LW, K&E and Skadden will continue fighting over their leftovers, regardless of what Vault says.

Lmao imagine being this stupid and unhinged.