{"id":123784,"date":"2025-06-23T09:22:28","date_gmt":"2025-06-23T17:22:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/06\/23\/vaults-top-law-firms-by-practice-area-and-region-2026\/"},"modified":"2025-06-23T09:22:28","modified_gmt":"2025-06-23T17:22:28","slug":"vaults-top-law-firms-by-practice-area-and-region-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/06\/23\/vaults-top-law-firms-by-practice-area-and-region-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Vault\u2019s Top Law Firms By Practice Area And Region (2026)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vault recently released its closely watched rankings of\u00a0the nation\u2019s 100 most prestigious law firms<\/a>. It was there that we learned Cravath has held onto its title as the most prestigious firm in America for a decade, and that the top firms saw some interesting changes (including one major firm entering the Top 10 for the first time ever).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what if your firm wasn\u2019t top-ranked in the Vault 100? Perhaps your firm isn\u2019t the most prestigious, but that doesn\u2019t mean it doesn\u2019t have clout. Some law firms reign supreme when it comes to certain practice areas, and others are known to dominate entire regions of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which law firms are considered to be at the top of their game by practice area and region? Let\u2019s find out!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the purposes of the practice area ranking, Vault asked associates to vote for up to three firms they think of as the strongest in their own practice area, and the overall ranking indicates the firms that received the highest percentage of votes. Associates were not allowed to vote for their own firm. Pay attention, prospective laterals, because this ranking could be quite useful for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve picked out a dozen of the practice areas that were ranked by Vault (you can see the full list by clicking\u00a0here<\/a>):<\/p>\n\n\n

\n

Appellate Litigation: Williams & Connolly<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Bankruptcy\/Restructuring: Kirkland & Ellis (replacing Cleary Gottlieb)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Energy, Oil and Gas: Vinson & Elkins<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

General Commercial Litigation: Quinn Emanuel<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

General Corporate Practice: Wachtell Lipton (replacing Kirkland & Ellis)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Intellectual Property: Fish & Richardson<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

International: White & Case<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Labor and Employment: Littler Mendelson<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Private Equity: Kirkland & Ellis<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Real Estate: Gibson Dunn<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Securities\/Capital Markets: Davis Polk<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Tax: Skadden<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Next up, we\u2019ve got a ranking that matters to those who think \u201clocation, location, location\u201d is the most important thing in life. Vault\u2019s regional rankings are based on votes tabulated from associates who were asked to rate firms on a 1 to 10 scale based on their prestige within the region.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the list of prestige by region from Vault (you can see the full list\u00a0here<\/a>):<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

Atlanta: King & Spalding<\/p>\n

Boston: Ropes & Gray<\/p>\n

Chicago: Kirkland & Ellis<\/p>\n

Florida: Holland & Knight<\/p>\n

Mid-Atlantic: Skadden<\/p>\n

Midwest: Kirkland & Ellis<\/p>\n

Mountain States: Gibson Dunn<\/p>\n

New York: Wachtell Lipton (replacing Cravath)<\/p>\n

Northern California: Cooley (replacing Morrison & Foerster)<\/p>\n

Pacific Northwest: Perkins Coie<\/p>\n

South Atlantic: Alston & Bird (replacing King & Spalding)<\/p>\n

Southern California: Latham & Watkins<\/p>\n

Texas: Vinson & Elkins<\/p>\n

Washington, DC: Covington & Burling<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Congratulations to the firms that moved up in this year\u2019s practice area and regional rankings, and congratulations to all the firms that made the cut in the first place. It must be nice to see which firms associates consider as their peers in prestige, and it must be even nicer for partners to know whose pricing models they need to undercut the next time around.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

VAULT LAW RELEASES 2026 RANKINGS FOR ITS TOP 100 LAW FIRMS, BEST LAW FIRMS BY REGION, AND BEST LAW FIRMS BY PRACTICE AREA<\/a>\u00a0[PR Newswire]
Best Law Firms by Practice Area (2026)<\/a>\u00a0[Vault]
Best Law Firms by Region (2026)<\/a>\u00a0[Vault]<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\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

<\/p>

The post Vault\u2019s Top Law Firms By Practice Area And Region (2026)<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>

\"\"<\/figure>

Vault recently released its closely watched rankings of\u00a0the nation\u2019s 100 most prestigious law firms<\/a>. It was there that we learned Cravath has held onto its title as the most prestigious firm in America for a decade, and that the top firms saw some interesting changes (including one major firm entering the Top 10 for the first time ever).<\/p>

But what if your firm wasn\u2019t top-ranked in the Vault 100? Perhaps your firm isn\u2019t the most prestigious, but that doesn\u2019t mean it doesn\u2019t have clout. Some law firms reign supreme when it comes to certain practice areas, and others are known to dominate entire regions of the country.<\/p>

Which law firms are considered to be at the top of their game by practice area and region? Let\u2019s find out!<\/p>

For the purposes of the practice area ranking, Vault asked associates to vote for up to three firms they think of as the strongest in their own practice area, and the overall ranking indicates the firms that received the highest percentage of votes. Associates were not allowed to vote for their own firm. Pay attention, prospective laterals, because this ranking could be quite useful for you.<\/p>

We\u2019ve picked out a dozen of the practice areas that were ranked by Vault (you can see the full list by clicking\u00a0here<\/a>):<\/p>

\n

Appellate Litigation: Williams & Connolly<\/p>\n

Bankruptcy\/Restructuring: Kirkland & Ellis (replacing Cleary Gottlieb)<\/p>\n

Energy, Oil and Gas: Vinson & Elkins<\/p>\n

General Commercial Litigation: Quinn Emanuel<\/p>\n

General Corporate Practice: Wachtell Lipton (replacing Kirkland & Ellis)<\/p>\n

Intellectual Property: Fish & Richardson<\/p>\n

International: White & Case<\/p>\n

Labor and Employment: Littler Mendelson<\/p>\n

Private Equity: Kirkland & Ellis<\/p>\n

Real Estate: Gibson Dunn<\/p>\n

Securities\/Capital Markets: Davis Polk<\/p>\n

Tax: Skadden<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>

Next up, we\u2019ve got a ranking that matters to those who think \u201clocation, location, location\u201d is the most important thing in life. Vault\u2019s regional rankings are based on votes tabulated from associates who were asked to rate firms on a 1 to 10 scale based on their prestige within the region.<\/p>

Here\u2019s the list of prestige by region from Vault (you can see the full list\u00a0here<\/a>):<\/p>

\n

Atlanta: King & Spalding<\/p>\n

Boston: Ropes & Gray<\/p>\n

Chicago: Kirkland & Ellis<\/p>\n

Florida: Holland & Knight<\/p>\n

Mid-Atlantic: Skadden<\/p>\n

Midwest: Kirkland & Ellis<\/p>\n

Mountain States: Gibson Dunn<\/p>\n

New York: Wachtell Lipton (replacing Cravath)<\/p>\n

Northern California: Cooley (replacing Morrison & Foerster)<\/p>\n

Pacific Northwest: Perkins Coie<\/p>\n

South Atlantic: Alston & Bird (replacing King & Spalding)<\/p>\n

Southern California: Latham & Watkins<\/p>\n

Texas: Vinson & Elkins<\/p>\n

Washington, DC: Covington & Burling<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>

Congratulations to the firms that moved up in this year\u2019s practice area and regional rankings, and congratulations to all the firms that made the cut in the first place. It must be nice to see which firms associates consider as their peers in prestige, and it must be even nicer for partners to know whose pricing models they need to undercut the next time around.<\/p>

VAULT LAW RELEASES 2026 RANKINGS FOR ITS TOP 100 LAW FIRMS, BEST LAW FIRMS BY REGION, AND BEST LAW FIRMS BY PRACTICE AREA<\/a>\u00a0[PR Newswire]
Best Law Firms by Practice Area (2026)<\/a>\u00a0[Vault]
Best Law Firms by Region (2026)<\/a>\u00a0[Vault]<\/p>

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

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>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vault recently released its closely watched rankings of\u00a0the nation\u2019s 100 most prestigious law firms. It was there that we learned Cravath has held onto its title as the most prestigious firm in America for a decade, and that the top firms saw some interesting changes (including one major firm entering the Top 10 for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":123766,"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-123784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Staci-Zaretsky-anBzDN.jpeg?fit=150%2C100&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123784","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=123784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123784\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}