What do associates at main legislation companies care about greater than cash? Status. However in instances like these, when Biglaw companies are signing away their very legacies to appease Donald Trump’s unconstitutional whims, being a frontrunner with regards to compensation is probably not sufficient to rescue a agency’s floundering status. Besides, in fact, when the surveys for essentially the most consequential rating on status, the Vault 100, had 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 had been blissfully unaware of what was but to return. So, whereas the intently watched Vault rankings are right here, they appear to mirror 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 within the Vault rankings, we suppose they’ll have to attend till subsequent yr to face the implications of their actions. For now, journey with us by means of one other dimension and droop your disbelief as we look at a set of legislation agency rankings straight out of the Twilight Zone.
In final yr’s Vault 100 rankings, Cravath — the agency that introduced the affiliate wage scale all the way in which as much as $415,000 again in February 2022 — managed to retain its number one spot, whereas Wachtell Lipton held regular in second place. Was Cravath capable of hold its cachet as essentially the most prestigious Biglaw agency within the nation on this yr’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 essentially the most elite companies within the rankings — together with one main agency coming into the Prime 10 for the primary time ever. Listed below are the Prime 10 Most Prestigious Regulation 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 yr in a row that almost all of those companies have been within the Prime 10. As you possibly can see, nevertheless, there weren’t just some fluctuations in rank amongst them, however one agency can also 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 Prime 10 to Milbank, debuting at No. 9 after introducing particular bonuses to Biglaw in 2024 that ultimately caught on like wildfire.
Sure, greater than half of the companies within the Prime 10 inked offers with Trump, however we’ll once more observe 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 should wait till subsequent yr to see how the response to Trump’s revenge tour towards legal professionals and legislation companies impacts Biglaw associates’ evaluation of legislation companies.
Click on right here to see the remainder of Vault’s status rankings.
Congratulations to all the Biglaw companies that made the most recent version of the Vault 100 rankings. How did your agency do that time round? E-mail us, textual content us at (646) 820-8477, or tweet us @atlblog to tell us how you are feeling.
Vault’s Prime 100 Regulation Companies 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 Regulation, the place she’s labored since 2011. She’d love to listen to from you, so please be happy to electronic mail her with any suggestions, questions, feedback, or critiques. You may observe her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or join along with her on LinkedIn.
