Here are three rankings of top firms, all published this month.  Any
ideas on which is what?

Ranking
A
Firm
Ranking
B
Firm
Ranking C
Firm
1
Wachtell
1
Cravath
1
Wachtel
2
Cahill
Gordon
2
Wachtel
2
Cravath
3
Sullivan & Cromwell
3
Sullivan & Cromwell
3
Sullivan & Cromwell
4
Simpson
Thacher
4
Davis
Polk
4
Skadden
5
Cravath
5
Skadden
5
Davis Polk
6
Paul,
Weiss
6
Simpson
Thacher
6
Simpson Thacher
7
Cadwalader
7
Williams & Connolly
7
Cleary Gottlieb
8
Davis
Polk
8
Cleary
Gottlieb
8
Latham & Watkins
9
Kirkland & Ellis
9
Latham & Watkins
9
Weil Gotshal
10
Milbank,
Tweed
10
Weil
Gotshal
10
Covington & Burling
11
Shearman & Sterling
11
Kirkland & Ellis
12
Paul,
Weiss
12
Shearman & Sterling
13
Covington & Burling
13
Paul, Weiss
14
Wilmer
Cutler
14
Debevoise
15
Kirkland & Ellis
15
Sidley Austin

I’ll be merciful:  "A" is profits per partner, courtesy of the
AmLaw 100; "B" is Vault’s annual
"prestige" rundown, as ranked by partners; and "C" is Vault’s prestige
tally as ranked by associates.   Now, the sizable overlap/identity
between "B" and "C" is no surprise; if associates don’t entirely get
their opinions about things like this from partners, that is surely their
primary source.

The newsworthy item to me is how PPP correlates with perceived prestige:  7
of the 10 firms with the highest PPP also figure in the top 15 most prestigious
in the view of both partners and associates.  The three exceptions?  Well,
I would argue they’re truly exceptions:

  • Cahill Gordon has always followed
    its own muse, and thumbed its nose at convention with the certainty
    and finality that their internal performance is all they need to care
    about.  (Their website, almost
    shockingly simple and quaint, caveats in a fashion both prissy and
    inarguable, that
    it "is primarily intended for use by law school students
    considering a career at our firm.")
  • Milbank and Cadwalader, on the other hand, while Household Names
    in anyone’s book, are strongly on the comeback from some years in the
    wilderness, and perception may not yet have caught up to reality.

Overall, a triumph of the marketplace.

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