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&lt;p&gt;We asked associates to vote for the strongest firms in their specific practice area (aside from their own). These responses yielded Vault&#39;s Top Law Firms by Practice Area, which ranks the top firms across 26 practice areas.&lt;/p&gt;

Mary Kate Sheridan

Article

Fun Facts about the Top 100 Law Firms

The Library

&lt;p&gt;Selecting a law firm is a giant step in one&#39;s legal career, and making sure a firm is the best fit is crucial. Among the areas that a law student or lateral should consider are the strength of a firm&#39;s practice areas and how those strengths align with his or her practice goals.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Vault&#39;s Best Law Firms by Practice Area ranks the top law firms across 26 practice areas. As part of Vault&#39;s Annual Associate survey, associates can vote for the strongest firms in their self-identified practice area(s). (Associates may select up to three firms, but they cannot vote for their own firm.) From this data, Vault produces its practice-area rankings.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Click through to see which firms ranked No. 1&#160; in such practice areas as General Commercial Litigation, Mergers &amp;amp; Acquisitions, Intellectual Property, Project Finance, Real Estate, Tax, and more.&lt;/p&gt;

Vault's 2019 Best Law Firms by Practice Area

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;#1 Cleary Gottlieb Steen &amp;amp; Hamilton LLP&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Holding on to its No. 1 spot for yet another year, Cleary reigns supreme when it comes to Antitrust. Outsiders describe the firm as &quot;antitrust gurus&quot; and an &quot;antitrust leader.&quot; Joining Cleary among the top 5 firms in Antitrust are: Gibson Dunn (2), Arnold &amp;amp; Porter (3), Skadden (4), and Jones Day (5).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;See the full Antitrust ranking &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vault.com/company-rankings/law/best-law-firms-in-each-practice-area?sRankID=17&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

Antitrust

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;#1 Gibson, Dunn &amp;amp; Crutcher LLP&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Holding steady at No. 1, Gibson Dunn is known for its appellate work, and with Ted Olsen at the helm, it&#39;s no wonder. Among comments from outsider associates are &quot;amazing appellate practice&quot; and &quot;litigation powerhouse.&quot; Joining Gibson Dunn at the top of the ranking are Williams &amp;amp; Connolly LLP (2), Jones Day (3), Kirkland &amp;amp; Ellis (4), and Quinn Emanuel (5).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;See full Appellate Litigation ranking &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vault.com/company-rankings/law/best-law-firms-in-each-practice-area?sRankID=241&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

Appellate Litigation

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;#1 Davis Polk &amp;amp; Wardwell LLP&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;With one of the nation&#39;s most comprehensive corporate departments, Davis Polk remained perched in its No. 1 spot in Banking &amp;amp; Financial Services. The firm is among good company at the top with Cravath (2), Skadden (3), Sullivan &amp;amp; Cromwell (4), and Simpson Thacher (5) rounding out the top five.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;See the full Banking &amp;amp; Financial Services ranking &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vault.com/company-rankings/law/best-law-firms-in-each-practice-area?sRankID=324&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

Banking & Financial Services

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;#1 Orrick, Herrington &amp;amp; Sutcliffe LLP&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Orrick leaped to the No. 1 spot from its prior spot at No. 4, and its attorneys were deemed &quot;top quality&quot; by one respondent. Other firms in the top 5 are Latham (2), Norton Rose Fulbright (3), Milbank (4), Akin Gump (5), and Stoel Rives (5).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;See the full Clean Tech &amp;amp; Renewable Energy ranking &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vault.com/company-rankings/law/best-law-firms-in-each-practice-area?sRankID=243&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

Clean Tech & Renewable Energy Law

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;#1 Cooley LLP&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Cooley has nestled into the No. 1 spot, moving up from its previous position at No. 2. Numerous associates from peer firms describe the firm with one word: &quot;startiups.&quot; Wilson Sonsini (2), Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin &amp;amp; Hachigian (3), Fenwick &amp;amp; West (4), and Morrison &amp;amp; Foerster (5) followed the leader.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;See the full Emerging Companies and Venture Capital ranking &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vault.com/company-rankings/law/best-law-firms-in-each-practice-area?sRankID=465&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;here.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Emerging Companies and Venture Capital

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;#1 Vinson &amp;amp; Elkins LLP&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Keeping its streak alive, Vinson &amp;amp; Elkins clinched the No. 1 spot again. The firm is described repeatedly as a &quot;Texas powerhouse&quot; and also with the simple words &quot;oil,&quot; &quot;gas,&quot; and &quot;energy.&quot; Joining the firm at the top of the ranking are Baker Botts (2), Latham (3), Norton Rose Fulbright (4), and Bracewell (5).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;See the full Energy, Oil, and Gas Law ranking &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vault.com/company-rankings/law/best-law-firms-in-each-practice-area/?sRankID=274&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

Energy, Oil, and Gas Law

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;#1 Beveridge &amp;amp; Diamond, P.C.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Born from the minds of environmental law experts, Beveridge &amp;amp; Diamond is a go-to firm for environmental law and has claimed the No. 1 spot for the second year in a row. Sharing its spotlight at the top are Hunton Andrews Kurth (2), Latham (2), Arnold &amp;amp; Porter (4), and Stoel Rives (5).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;See the full Environmental Law ranking &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vault.com/company-rankings/law/best-law-firms-in-each-practice-area/?sRankID=449&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

Environmental Law

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;#1 Quinn Emanuel &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;No surprises at the top here—Quinn Emanuel has led the General Commercial Litigation ranking since 2013 and has secured the No. 1 spot yet again. As one respondent states, Quinn Emanuel is &quot;as good as lit gets.&quot; Other litigation dynamos include Skadden (2), Cravath (3), Paul, Weiss (4), and Gibson Dunn (5).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;See the full General Commercial Litigation ranking &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vault.com/company-rankings/law/best-law-firms-in-each-practice-area/?sRankID=199&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

General Commercial Litigation

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;#1 Cravath, Swaine &amp;amp; Moore LLP&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;After capturing the No. 1 spot in General Corporate Practice last year, Cravath has done it again. It&#39;s not surprising that one outsider describes the firm as &quot;corporate giants.&quot; Also among the top five are Wachtell (2), Skadden (3), Sullivan &amp;amp; Cromwell (4), and Kirkland (5).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;See the full General Corporate Practice ranking &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vault.com/company-rankings/law/best-law-firms-in-each-practice-area/?sRankID=207&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

General Corporate Practice

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;#1 McDermott Will &amp;amp; Emery LLP&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Landing the No. 1 spot for the second year, McDermott Will &amp;amp; Emery has been racking up the accolades regarding its work in Health Care. The firm is joined at the top by Hogan Lovells (2), Ropes &amp;amp; Gray (3), Epstein Becker &amp;amp; Green (4), King &amp;amp; Spalding (5), and Polsinelli (5).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;See the full Health Care ranking &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vault.com/company-rankings/law/best-law-firms-in-each-practice-area/?sRankID=466&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

Health Care

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;#1 Fish &amp;amp; Richardon P.C.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;King of Intellectual Property, Fish &amp;amp; Richardson has secured the No. 1 spot once again. Associates at other firms note that the firm is &quot;great for IP&quot; and &quot;#1 for IP,&quot; among other things. The IP leader is in good company at the top with Finnegan (2), Quinn Emanuel (3), Kirkland &amp;amp; Ellis (4), and Morrison &amp;amp; Foerster (5).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;See the full Intellectual Property ranking &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vault.com/company-rankings/law/best-law-firms-in-each-practice-area/?srankid=20&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

Intellectual Property

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;#1 Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Freshfields has held the No. 1 spot in International Practice since 2012, and this year is no exception. As one respondent notes, Freshfields has a &quot;great international presence.&quot; Rounding out the top five are White &amp;amp; Case (2), Cleary (3), Skadden (4), and Shearman &amp;amp; Sterling (5).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;See the full International Practice ranking &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vault.com/company-rankings/law/best-law-firms-in-each-practice-area/?sRankID=21&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;here.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

International Practice

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;#1 Knobbe, Martens, Olsen &amp;amp; Bear, LLP&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Knobbe, Martens, Olsen &amp;amp; Bear became the No.1 Intellectual Property Boutique in 2013 and hasn&#39;t looked back since. It&#39;s fellow top-5 firms are Fitzpatrick, Cella, Harper &amp;amp; Scinto (2); McKool Smith (3); Keker &amp;amp; Van Nest (4); and Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein &amp;amp; Fox (5).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;See the full Intellectual Property Boutique ranking &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vault.com/company-rankings/law/best-law-firms-in-each-practice-area/?sRankID=275&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

Intellectual Property Boutique Law Firms

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;#1 Littler Mendelson P.C.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;For the fifth year in a row, Littler Mendelson has clinched the No. 1 spot in Labor and Employment. It makes sense that outsider associates describe the firm as &quot;employment matters powerhouse&quot; and &quot;go-to for employment law.&quot; Also at the top of the ranking are Jackson Lewis (2), Ogletree (3), Seyfarth Shaw (4), and Morgan Lewis (5).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;See the full Labor &amp;amp; Employment ranking &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vault.com/company-rankings/law/best-law-firms-in-each-practice-area/?sRankID=22&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Labor & Employment

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;#1 Susman Godfrey LLP&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Susman Godfrey is the No. 1 Litigation Boutique yet again, receiving more than 45 percent of votes. One respondent indicated that Susman is &quot;perhaps the best litigation shop in the U.S.&quot; while another described its attorneys as &quot;great trial lawyers.&quot; Other top litigation boutiques are Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel &amp;amp; Frederick (2); Keker &amp;amp; Van Nest (3); Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar &amp;amp; Scott (4); and Kobre &amp;amp; Kim (5).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;See the full Litigation Boutique ranking &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vault.com/company-rankings/law/best-law-firms-in-each-practice-area/?sRankID=276&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

Litigation Boutique Law Firms

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;#1 Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen &amp;amp; Katz&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Claiming its crown as king of M&amp;amp;A once again is Wachtell. The firm is described as &quot;best of the best&quot; with &quot;brilliant attorneys&quot; and as the &quot;top M&amp;amp;A firm in the U.S.&quot; Also at the top of the rankings are Skadden (2), Cravath (3), Sullivan &amp;amp; Cromwell (4), and Kirkland &amp;amp; Ellis (5).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;See the full M&amp;amp;A ranking &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vault.com/company-rankings/law/best-law-firms-in-each-practice-area/?sRankID=24&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;here.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Mergers and Acquisitions

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;#1 Hogan Lovells&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The No. 1 spot for Privacy and Data Security goes to megafirm Hogan Lovells. Also nestled at the top are Hunton Andrews Kurth (2), Morrison &amp;amp; Foerster (3), Cooley (4), and Wilson Sonsini (5).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;See the full Privacy &amp;amp; Data Security ranking &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vault.com/company-rankings/law/best-law-firms-in-each-practice-area/?sRankID=450&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

Privacy & Data Security

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;#1 Kirkland &amp;amp; Ellis LLP&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Known for its work in private equity, Kirkland claimed the top spot in 2015 and hasn&#39;t let go since. The firm was described by one respondent as a &quot;private equity powerhouse.&quot; The other firms in the top five are Simpson Thacher (2), Skadden (3), Latham (4), and Wachtell (5).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;See the full Private Equity ranking &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vault.com/company-rankings/law/best-law-firms-in-each-practice-area/?sRankID=206&amp;amp;rYear=2019&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

Private Equity

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;#1 Quinn Emanuel Urquhart &amp;amp; Sullivan LLP&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Quinn Emanuel has settled into the No. 1 spot in Products Liability, a rankiing it has held since 2016. Skadden (2); Jones Day (3); Kirkland &amp;amp; Ellis (4); and Shook, Hardy &amp;amp; Bacon (5) join Quinn at the top.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;See the full Products Liability ranking &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vault.com/company-rankings/law/best-law-firms-in-each-practice-area/?sRankID=209&amp;amp;rYear=2019&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

Products Liability

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;#1 Milbank, Tweed, Hadley &amp;amp; McCloy LLP&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;After capturing the No. 1 spot last year, Milbank has made it to the top again. Also at the top are Skadden (2), Latham (3), Sullivan &amp;amp; Cromwell (4), and Davis Polk (5).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;See the full Project Finance ranking &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vault.com/company-rankings/law/best-law-firms-in-each-practice-area/?sRankID=390&amp;amp;rYear=2019&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;here.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Project Finance

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;#1 Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver &amp;amp; Jacobson LLP&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It&#39;s no surprise to see Fried Frank atop the Real Estate ranking—a position its held since 2011. In fact, one survey respondent described the firm as &quot;real estate kings.&quot; The firms in the top five stayed the same as last year, but there were some shakeups in terms of rank: Greenberg Traurig (2), Gibson Dunn (3), DLA Piper (4), and Skadden (5).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;See the full Real Estate ranking &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vault.com/company-rankings/law/best-law-firms-in-each-practice-area/?sRankID=25&amp;amp;rYear=2019&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

Real Estate Law

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;#1 Kirkland &amp;amp; Ellis&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Kirkland moved to the No. 1 spot in Restructuring/Bankruptcy in 2016 and has stayed there ever since. One respondent designated Kirkland &quot;a top firm for bankruptcy.&quot; Other firms in the top five are Weil (2); Jones Day (3); Paul, Weiss (4); and Skadden (5).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;See the full&#160;Restructuring/Bankruptcy ranking &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vault.com/company-rankings/law/best-law-firms-in-each-practice-area/?sRankID=18&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

Restructuring/Bankruptcy

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;#1 Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher &amp;amp; Flom LLP and Affiliates&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Skadden is the top firm in Securities Litigation for another year—a position it has held since 2011. In describing the firm, one respondent stated, &quot;who I would want to represent me&quot; while another indicated the firm is &quot;good at everything.&quot; The remainder of the top five are Cravath (2); Sullivan &amp;amp; Cromwell (3); Wachtell (4); and Paul, Weiss (5).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;See the full Securities Litigation ranking &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vault.com/company-rankings/law/best-law-firms-in-each-practice-area/?srankid=204&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

Securities Litigation

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;#1 Davis Polk &amp;amp; Wardwell LLP&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;For the fifth year, Davis Polk has claimed the No. 1 ranking in Securities/Capital Markets. This year&#39;s top five also includes Skadden (2), Cravath (3), Simpson Thacher (4), and Latham (5).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;See the full Securities/Capital Markets ranking &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vault.com/company-rankings/law/best-law-firms-in-each-practice-area/?sRankID=26&amp;amp;rYear=2019&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

Securities/Capital Markets

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;#1 Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher &amp;amp; Flom LLP and Affiliates&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The top firm in tax law is no surprise—it&#39;s Skadden by a mile. The other firms at the top inlcude Davis Polk (2), Baker McKenzie (3), McDermott Will &amp;amp; Emery (4), and Cravath (5).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;See the full Tax Law ranking &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vault.com/company-rankings/law/best-law-firms-in-each-practice-area/?sRankID=210&amp;amp;rYear=2019&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

Tax Law

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;#1 Williams &amp;amp; Connolly LLP&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Settling in for another year as No. 1 is Williams &amp;amp; Connolly, which was described by one respondent as &quot;great for white collar/investigations.&quot; Paul, Weiss (2); Skadden (3); Gibson Dunn (4); and Covington &amp;amp; Burling (5) round out the top five.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;See the full White Collar Defense &amp;amp; Internal Investigations ranking &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vault.com/company-rankings/law/best-law-firms-in-each-practice-area/?srankid=205&amp;amp;ryear=2019&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

White Collar Defense & Internal investigations

Vault's 2019 Top Law Firms by Practice Area

Associates voted for the strongest law firms across 26 practice areas. Here are the results.