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I was inspired by the post "respective strengths of V20's corporate practices" to ask this question but about practice areas within litigation. For example, general commercial lit, white collar, antitrust, securities, appellate, etc. Thanks in advance for any thoughts!

V20? Then, no Munger? No WilmerHale?

Vault doesn't really track litigation so the V20 is a pretty meaningless bracket. Within the V20, going off the 2017 numbers (which of course change each year), the firms known for litigation where you could identify particular strengths and have litigation focus are #10 (Gibson), #12 (Paul Weiss), #15 (Quinn), #16 (Boies), and #19 (Williams & Connolly). Some firms like Covington and Sidley--#13 and 14--will have stronger and more varied litigation groups outside of New York. The other 13-15 firms are mostly corporate-driven.

Davis Polk and Sullivan are known for securities, Cleary is known for antitrust, Wachtell is known for takeover/M&A. Cravath, DPW, S&C, Simpson, Skadden all have top notch commercial litigation groups in New York. But I wouldn't say any of this is what these firms are most known for.

Vault rankings do not in any real way reflect the strength or "prestige" of various firms' litigation departments. The little value Vault has, if it has any (unlikely), is with respect to New York corporate practices.

Your best resource for what you're looking for is probably Chambers/Partners lit-specific band ratings for specific cities.

If you want to ask e.g. "what are the most respected lit firms in X city, who do Y work," we can give you something of relative value.