{"id":119786,"date":"2025-05-20T16:25:39","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T00:25:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/05\/20\/biglaw-firms-may-see-prestige-ranking-scores-take-a-hit-thanks-to-piss-poor-deals-with-trump\/"},"modified":"2025-05-20T16:25:39","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T00:25:39","slug":"biglaw-firms-may-see-prestige-ranking-scores-take-a-hit-thanks-to-piss-poor-deals-with-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/05\/20\/biglaw-firms-may-see-prestige-ranking-scores-take-a-hit-thanks-to-piss-poor-deals-with-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"Biglaw Firms May See Prestige Ranking Scores Take A Hit Thanks To Piss-Poor Deals With Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"

What do associates at major law firms care about more than money? Prestige, of course. But in times like these, when Biglaw firms are signing away their very legacies<\/a> to appease Donald Trump\u2019s unconstitutional whims, being a leader when it comes to compensation may not be enough to rescue a firm\u2019s floundering prestige.<\/p>\n

Within the next few weeks, Vault\u2019s closely watched industry prestige rankings<\/a> will be released, which got us to wondering how the noxious nine \u2014 i.e., the firms that signed dreadful deals<\/a> in an effort to kowtow to Trump\u2019s unlawful demands \u2014 will be affected when it comes to their placement in this year\u2019s line up. With repeated comparisons to 1930s Germany in our own survey concerning Biglaw\u2019s response to Trump\u2019s executive orders<\/a> threatening the legal profession, it should really give you a sense of how people feel about these once illustrious firms. <\/p>\n

Vault\u2019s associate survey is typically conducted from\u00a0January through March, which means that several of these firms could very well be impacted by their dastardly decisions (and if not this year, then they\u2019ll certainly face the consequences near year).<\/p>\n

So, how did Paul Weiss<\/a>;\u00a0Skadden<\/a>; Willkie Farr<\/a>; Milbank<\/a>; Kirkland & Ellis<\/a>;\u00a0Latham & Watkins<\/a>;\u00a0Simpson Thacher<\/a>;\u00a0A&O Shearman<\/a>; and\u00a0Cadwalader<\/a> place in the 2025 edition (ranked in 2024) of the Vault 100? Six of the firms were ranked in or just outside of the Top 10 \u2014 Skadden at No. 3; Latham at No. 4; Kirkland at No. 6; Paul Weiss at No. 8; Simpson at No. 9; and Milbank at No. 13 \u2014 with the rest scattered throughout or just outside of the Top 50 (Willkie at No. 35; A&O at No. 47; and Cadwalader at No. 53). We imagine that at least a few of those Top 10 firms may see their ranking take a blow, even if a slight one.<\/p>\n

On the flip side of the coin, we\u2019ve got firms that are courageously fighting the good fight for the rule of law and lawyers everywhere by refusing to bend a knee to Trump. Those firms \u2014 Perkins Coie<\/a>;\u00a0Jenner & Block<\/a>;\u00a0WilmerHale<\/a>; and\u00a0Susman Godfrey<\/a> \u2014 are engaged in legal warfare against the MAGA administration, and they\u2019re already on a winning streak<\/a>. Last year, Vault ranked the majority of those firms within or just outside of the Top 30 (Wilmer at No. 26; Susman at No. 28; Perkins at No. 31), with Jenner bringing up the rear at No. 63. We believe that these firms may see a rankings boost this year thanks to their dedication to justice, which by our measure is the most prestigious currency in the legal profession right now.<\/p>\n

Will any of our prestige predictions come true? Stay tuned for our coverage on the release of the 2026 edition of the Vault 100 to find out.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Staci
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email<\/a> her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Biglaw Firms May See Prestige Ranking Scores Take A Hit Thanks To Piss-Poor Deals With Trump<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What do associates at major law firms care about more than money? Prestige, of course. But in times like these, when Biglaw firms are signing away their very legacies<\/a> to appease Donald Trump\u2019s unconstitutional whims, being a leader when it comes to compensation may not be enough to rescue a firm\u2019s floundering prestige.<\/p>\n

Within the next few weeks, Vault\u2019s closely watched industry prestige rankings<\/a> will be released, which got us to wondering how the noxious nine \u2014 i.e., the firms that signed dreadful deals<\/a> in an effort to kowtow to Trump\u2019s unlawful demands \u2014 will be affected when it comes to their placement in this year\u2019s line up. With repeated comparisons to 1930s Germany in our own survey concerning Biglaw\u2019s response to Trump\u2019s executive orders<\/a> threatening the legal profession, it should really give you a sense of how people feel about these once illustrious firms. <\/p>\n

Vault\u2019s associate survey is typically conducted from\u00a0January through March, which means that several of these firms could very well be impacted by their dastardly decisions (and if not this year, then they\u2019ll certainly face the consequences near year).<\/p>\n

So, how did Paul Weiss<\/a>;\u00a0Skadden<\/a>; Willkie Farr<\/a>; Milbank<\/a>; Kirkland & Ellis<\/a>;\u00a0Latham & Watkins<\/a>;\u00a0Simpson Thacher<\/a>;\u00a0A&O Shearman<\/a>; and\u00a0Cadwalader<\/a> place in the 2025 edition (ranked in 2024) of the Vault 100? Six of the firms were ranked in or just outside of the Top 10 \u2014 Skadden at No. 3; Latham at No. 4; Kirkland at No. 6; Paul Weiss at No. 8; Simpson at No. 9; and Milbank at No. 13 \u2014 with the rest scattered throughout or just outside of the Top 50 (Willkie at No. 35; A&O at No. 47; and Cadwalader at No. 53). We imagine that at least a few of those Top 10 firms may see their ranking take a blow, even if a slight one.<\/p>\n

On the flip side of the coin, we\u2019ve got firms that are courageously fighting the good fight for the rule of law and lawyers everywhere by refusing to bend a knee to Trump. Those firms \u2014 Perkins Coie<\/a>;\u00a0Jenner & Block<\/a>;\u00a0WilmerHale<\/a>; and\u00a0Susman Godfrey<\/a> \u2014 are engaged in legal warfare against the MAGA administration, and they\u2019re already on a winning streak<\/a>. Last year, Vault ranked the majority of those firms within or just outside of the Top 30 (Wilmer at No. 26; Susman at No. 28; Perkins at No. 31), with Jenner bringing up the rear at No. 63. We believe that these firms may see a rankings boost this year thanks to their dedication to justice, which by our measure is the most prestigious currency in the legal profession right now.<\/p>\n

Will any of our prestige predictions come true? Stay tuned for our coverage on the release of the 2026 edition of the Vault 100 to find out.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Staci
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email<\/a> her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Biglaw Firms May See Prestige Ranking Scores Take A Hit Thanks To Piss-Poor Deals With Trump<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What do associates at major law firms care about more than money? Prestige, of course. But in times like these, when Biglaw firms are signing away their very legacies to appease Donald Trump\u2019s unconstitutional whims, being a leader when it comes to compensation may not be enough to rescue a firm\u2019s floundering prestige. Within the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-119786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119786\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}