Top Law Schools

Some firms don't use commas at all (e.g., McDermott Will & Emery; Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld), but the ones that do invariably leave out the Oxford comma (e.g., Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison; Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom).
Mod edit: anon unnecessary here.

Typically don't use Oxford commas at all -- not just a matter of name.

The oxford comma is a signal of prestige. If we didn't have Vault, the oxford comma's presence (or lack thereof) would be the primary way to distinguish the best firms from the mediocre ones.

Anonymous User wrote:Some firms don't use commas at all (e.g., McDermott Will & Emery; Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld), but the ones that do invariably leave out the Oxford comma (e.g., Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison; Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom).

I would guess it has to do with the fact that it looks kind of weird to have a comma and an ampersand directly adjacent to one another.

NoLongerALurker wrote:Typically don't use Oxford commas at all -- not just a matter of name.

And it drives me crazy.

LaLiLuLeLo wrote:

NoLongerALurker wrote:Typically don't use Oxford commas at all -- not just a matter of name.

And it drives me crazy.

Ditto! Based on the number of times the issue of "commas" has come up in cases (see: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/16/us/o ... .html?_r=0), you'd think more lawyers would be pro-Oxford comma!

Just following the old-money "branding" of Wall Street (e.g. "Merrill Lynch", "Smith Barney", "Morgan Stanley"). Although it does lead people to ask if Paul Weiss was a famous lawyer.

The oxford comma can be just as confusing. Save some printer ink people.

Garner says to omit before an ampersand.

snowball2 wrote:Just following the old-money "branding" of Wall Street (e.g. "Merrill Lynch", "Smith Barney", "Morgan Stanley"). Although it does lead people to ask if Paul Weiss was a famous lawyer.

uh, no it doesn't because it's paul, weiss