For the first time, the inimitable Vault site solicited partners’, not
just associates’, opinions for its annual "Most Prestigious Firms" ranking. Here
we go:
- Cravath
- Wachtel
- Sullivan & Cromwell
- Davis-Polk
- Skadden
…etc. Once again, in a victory for the home team, eight of the
top 10 are NYC-based (#7 Williams & Connolly and #9 Latham being the
exceptions), as are 16 of the top 25.
Meanwhile, Legal Week posed a different question to its UK
base: How do you see the global legal marketplace ten years hence?
Despite a very rocky past couple of years, Clifford-Chance was judged
most likely to be the premier UK-based international player (41%), beating
out Freshfields (29%) and Allen & Overy (12%). Will the leading
global firm be?: UK-based (7%); US-based (44%); "half and
half" [in the Azores, perhaps?] (49%).
My votes? I have very little quibble with the "most prestigious"
rankings (kind of like debating whether Jeter or A-Rod adds more to the
Yankees), and I think the 7%-UK/44%-US split of the Legal Week poll
means the handwriting is on the wall.
Back
to work….
