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Something to think about.
http://abovethelaw.com/law-firms/white-case-llp/
http://abovethelaw.com/law-firms/shearman-sterling-llp/

Anonymous User wrote:that Shearman's still slumping and is moving in the wrong direction.

i still don't understand where this anecdotal stuff comes from

PennBull wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:that Shearman's still slumping and is moving in the wrong direction.

i still don't understand where this anecdotal stuff comes from

My impression is that it's mostly fuelled by an uncomplicated look at Vault rankings. Shearman used to be V15. Now it's V40. No idea why that happened. No idea whether it really matters.

stoopkid13 wrote:

PennBull wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:that Shearman's still slumping and is moving in the wrong direction.

i still don't understand where this anecdotal stuff comes from

My impression is that it's mostly fuelled by an uncomplicated look at Vault rankings. Shearman used to be V15. Now it's V40. No idea why that happened. No idea whether it really matters.

Vault overall rankings really don't matter. Dewey went up in Vault rankings right before it imploded. This year K&L Gates went up 8 spots when so many of its partners are leaving (it no-offered 10 summers last year). Look at Milbank's place in the rankings when it's one of the most profitable firms. Vault regional rankings (New York etc) are more stable and seem to at least reflect how junior associates view firms in their markets to some extent. For a comparison of prestige, Vault website has a separate selectivity rankings as well. The overall rankings is just useless. Just looking at it simplistically, how Cravath is ahead of Wachtell in the overall rankings when it is behind Wachtell in the New York rankings doesn't make any sense, does it?

People use V10, V20 whatever because they don't want to out themselves but still need to indicate the kinds of firms they are talking about. For more relevant comparison I would suggest looking at Chambers.

Not sure how Shearman is "in the wrong direction," but it keeps winning awards and it's highly rated in many areas in Chambers -- it seems like quite the opposite.