USNews Law Firm Rankings - Tiers and other stuff Forum

[NYAssociate]

.

[FlanAl]

Whole Foods to 190!

LOLWEOPH

[TheTopBloke]

Whole Foods to 190!

LOLWEOPH

??? That's a new one to me. What is LOLWEOPH?

[Wavelet]

If it will truly be tiered and in twenties or something like that, I don't actually think it'll be revolutionary or anything. Tier 1 can be already stated with some degree of accuracy (in no particular order):

Wachtell
Cravath
Davis Polk
Simpson Thacher
Skadden
Cleary
Kirkland
Covington
Williams & Connolly
Paul Weiss
Debevoise
Weil
Gibson Dunn
Sidley Austin

I can't think of any others to put on this list without blatantly trolling (also my memory about firms is terrible. I'm sorry if this makes me less prestigious).

(I realize I'm excluding places like Irell and Munger, but I think the rankings will be similarly skewed toward more national/NY/DC firms like Vault is, given USNews's purported methodology)

+SullCrom.

One major way to measure the ranking's validity will be to see whether LaTTTham makes it into tier 1.

[FlanAl]

laughed out loud while eating over priced hummus

should probably edit it out for not being very funny
although it did happen

[NYAssociate]

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[Wavelet]

+SullCrom.

One major way to measure the ranking's validity will be to see whether LaTTTham makes it into tier 1.

Yeah, I was also wondering whether Latham would make it.

But keep in mind, while Latham is a TTT from the perspective of law students applying for biglaw jobs, I don't think it's at all regarded as TTT in terms of firm caliber.

Yeah, but after the massacre of '08/'09 and the ton of partner defections, Latham NYC is pretty much a non-player in that city (which is important if the USNWR rankings will be NYC-centric).

And I have to imagine that their struggling to 1) hold onto experienced associates and 2) recruit new legal talent will trickle down and affect their ranking, even in a ranking system as removed from reality as USNWR's.

[NYAssociate]

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[PDaddy]

Yeah, this pinpoints my trouble with rankings in general. It points to an overall problem with the American populace, and I think has driven our hunger for prestige to new levels. With law firms now being ranked, alongside high schools, colleges, and graduate schools, we will be measured and compared to others with these metrics for the rest of our lives.

Agree with this 100%. It'll be interesting to see how closely it matches the "established" hierarchy. Depending on their methodology, they could wind up with some crazy results, or they could wind up basically mirroring what chambers and vault already "provide."

I remember from the first time I read the story that the rankings will be based heavily on consumers of the legal services, which should be interesting. Vault's methodology probably couldn't be worse (I bet Skadden does better than it should just because there are more Skadden attorneys to fill out PRESTIGE SURVEYS than there are stars in the heavens) so that's something.

Do we know if they're planning to break it down by region or practice area at all?

Am I the only one who believes the below poster was joking?

I'm going to kill myself if I don't end up working for a top tier law firm. I judge my entire worth as a human being by the USNews rank of my law school, so I'm glad USNews will also rank my place of employment.

[NYAssociate]

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[Anonymous User]

Yeah, but after the massacre of '08/'09 and the ton of partner defections, Latham NYC is pretty much a non-player in that city (which is important if the USNWR rankings will be NYC-centric).

Yeah, I've heard the banking defection was pretty bad. I think Gibson is replacing Latham as one of NYC's two established non-NYC HQ'd practices.

LOL at this. I think they're still pretty established in NY in M&A, capital markets, project finance, etc. Law students need to get some perspective...

[doyleoil]

Yeah, I've heard the banking defection was pretty bad. I think Gibson is replacing Latham as one of NYC's two established non-NYC HQ'd practices.

so do you ever just think to yourself, "today is the day i'm gonna give the kirkland trolling a rest," or have you not hit rock-bottom yet?

[BobSacamano]

For people who don't care about rankings you all sure seem to care about the rankings.