Announcing Vault Law's 2026 Prestige Rankings

Vault has released the much-anticipated 2026 Vault 100, its signature list of the most prestigious law firms, as well as its 2026 Practice Area and Regional prestige rankings. To obtain data for the rankings, Vault surveyed more than 20,000 U.S. associates to understand how they view hundreds of law firms. Vault’s survey is a snapshot of associate sentiment during the survey window of January 28-March 21, 2025.

We see a new firm join the top 10 firms in the Vault 100 and changes at the top of two major Regional rankings and the General Corporate Practice Area rankings. Some key takeaways follow:

• The top four firms in the 2025 Vault 100 rankings remain the same: Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP; Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; Skadden; and Latham & Watkins. Wachtell Lipton remains No. 2 in the Vault 100 for the 10th consecutive year and overtakes Cravath for the No. 1 spot this year in the highly competitive New York Regional rankings.
• Kirkland & Ellis moves up a spot in the Vault 100, to No. 5 from No. 6. Sullivan & Cromwell LLP trades spots with Kirkland, moving down to No. 6. Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP sits at No. 7, and Paul, Weiss holds at No. 8. This is the second year in a row that Kirkland has edged up one spot. In 2024, Kirkland was both the highest-grossing and most profitable law firm in the world according to The American Lawyer. The firm also sits atop two Regional rankings (including Chicago, where it is headquartered) and four Practice Area rankings (including Private Equity and Banking & Financial Services).
• A new firm enters the top 10 in the Vault 100: Milbank, which was the first firm to announce special bonuses in the summer of 2024 and associate bonuses in late 2024, jumping from No. 13 to No. 9. Last year, Milbank, which was also the first mover in a round of salary increases and bonus announcements in late 2023, jumped from No. 17 to No. 13. The most recent climb continues Milbank’s recent soaring rise in the prestige rankings: It was No. 40 in the Vault 100 in 2019. The firm is also the No. 1 firm in the Project Finance and Clean Tech/Renewable Energy Practice Area rankings.
• The two firms with the greatest overall increase in the Vault 100 rankings are both litigation-focused. Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP picks up seven spots, rising from No. 43 to No. 36. Kellogg Hansen leaps up seven spots as well, to No. 74 from No. 81, in the Vault 100. Last year, Kellogg Hansen also jumped seven spots. The firm is known for its work in antitrust litigation and enforcement; in January 2025, Kellogg Hansen helped a class of vendors reach a $630 million settlement from automotive technology giant CDK.
• Two firms leap up six spots: Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP (moving from No. 35 to No. 29) and Freshfields US LLP (climbing from No. 57 to No. 51). Willkie has expanded its footprint with several notable partner hires over the past year, including several partners in its Chicago office and former Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff. Freshfields US LLP, the American arm of the U.K.-based firm, has made a major expansion push in the United States in recent years. It opened its Boston office in February 2025. Another firm with considerable upward movement is Susman Godfrey, which focuses on high-stakes commercial litigation (moving five spots from No. 28 to No. 23 following a 12-spot improvement last year). In October 2024, Susman Godfrey secured a $1.6 billion judgment for BML properties in a fraud case against China Construction America. Faegre Drinker also sees strong gains (climbing five spots from No. 93 to No. 88 after jumping six spots last year). The firm has shown healthy growth since it was formed in 2020 through the merger of Faegre Baker Daniels and Drinker Biddle & Reath.
• Associates generally expressed a positive view of other firms during this year’s survey period. In the Vault 100, approximately 90% of firms’ average prestige scores are up from last year. For the Vault 100, participants rate firms other than their own in terms of prestige on a 1 to 10 scale. Vault collects all the responses and averages the scores for each firm. The firms are then ranked in order, with the highest average prestige score set as No. 1, to determine the Vault Law 100. This year, no firm’s ranking drops more than five spots. The three firms with five-spot declines (Mintz; Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP; and BCLP) show an increase in their average prestige scores; however, other firms close to them in the rankings show larger increases in their average prestige scores.
• In 2024, some firms underwent notable mergers. London-based Allen & Overy LLP (which had a considerable U.S. presence) combined with New York-based Shearman & Sterling LLP in May 2024 (after last year’s associate survey had closed). The new firm, A&O Shearman, is No. 62 in the Vault 100 this year. Two years ago, Allen & Overy was No. 50 and Shearman & Sterling was No. 55 (because of the timing of the merger, Vault included the legacy firms in the survey two years ago, but this is the first year the combined firm has been presented in the survey). Another major merger was the combination of Troutman Pepper and Locke Lord in January 2025. The combined firm, Troutman Pepper Locke LLP, appears at No. 73 in the Vault 100. Last year, Troutman Pepper was ranked No. 80 and Locke Lord was No. 83. One merged firm to look for in next year’s rankings will be HSF Kramer. The merger between Herbert Smith Freehills (not in the Vault 100 for 2026) and Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP (currently No. 92) was finalized on June 1, 2025.
• In two of the largest regional markets, a new firm emerges atop Vault’s rankings. In New York, Wachtell Lipton is the new No. 1 firm, displacing Cravath, now at No. 2. In Northern California, Cooley LLP and Latham & Watkins tie for the No. 1 spot, bumping last year’s top firm, Morrison & Foerster LLP, to No. 3. In other large regional markets, the top firm remains unchanged: Washington, DC (Covington & Burling); Southern California (Latham & Watkins ); Texas (Vinson & Elkins); Chicago (Kirkland); and Boston (Ropes & Gray).
• In the General Corporate Practice Area rankings, the No. 1 firm is now Wachtell Lipton, which advised Capital One on its recent blockbuster $35.3 billion acquisition of Discover. The No. 2 firm is Cravath. Last year’s No. 1 firm, Kirkland, falls to No. 3. However, the scores for the three top firms in this category are close, so this is a rankings category to watch next year. In the White Collar Defense & Internal Investigations Practice Area rankings, Covington & Burling takes the No. 1 spot, and Williams & Connolly takes the No. 2 spot. Last year’s No. 1 firm, Paul, Weiss, is now No. 3. In some closely watched litigation rankings, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, remains in the top spot in General Commercial Litigation Practice Area rankings, and Williams & Connolly continues to sit atop the Appellate Litigation Practice Area rankings.

The Vault 100, Practice Area, and Regional prestige rankings are all available at https://vault.com/best-companies-to-work-for/law. Vault will release its Best Law Firms to Work For quality-of-life rankings on June 25, 2025.