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Vault has released the 2026-2027 Vault 100, its signature list of the most prestigious law firms, as well as its 2026-2027 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 October 22, 2025 to January 23, 2026.
Since the last Vault survey closed in March 2025, the legal industry has seen continued merger activity among large firms. Global powerhouse Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) and New York City firm Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP finalized their merger in summer 2025, forming HSF Kramer. Chicago-headquartered McDermott Will & Emery and New York City-based Schulte Roth & Zabel also merged in summer 2025, forming McDermott Will & Schulte. Firms that plan to combine in the upcoming year include Ashurst and Perkins Coie, and Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader.
The legal industry has also been impacted by the current presidential administration. In the early months of 2025, prominent law firms featured in the news as presidential actions and executive orders were issued targeting several firms that the Trump Administration deemed as engaging in conduct opposed to national interests. Four firms targeted with executive orders filed suit against the Trump administration. The courts invalidated the executive orders; as of the writing of this blog, it is an open question whether the Department of Justice will proceed with appealing the decisions. Nine other firms targeted by executive orders agreed to deals with the White House that included commitments to pro bono legal work for causes the administration supports and end certain diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
With this context in mind, we see some major shifts in this year's rankings, including in the Vault 20 and at the top of some major Regional and Practice Area rankings. Some key takeaways follow:
• In the Vault 100, approximately 60% of firms’ average prestige scores are up from last year, indicating that more than half of Vault 100 firms are viewed more favorably than they were last year. However, the story is different at the top: among firms in the Vault 10, every firm’s average prestige score dropped. 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.
• The top four firms in the 2026-2027 Vault 100 rankings remain the same. Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP is No.1 and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is in the second spot. For 11 years straight, Cravath and Wachtell have been No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. However, some industry experts warn that the two elite New York City powerhouses may soon face more competition for talent: Bloomberg Law published an article in February titled, “Even Cravath, Wachtell Must Now Fight the Talent Wars,” detailing how competitors are now aiming to lure key talent away from the two firms. Skadden is at No. 3; the firm is a key player in the two biggest corporate combinations announced in 2025, representing Netflix in its landmark acquisition of Warner Bros. and Union Pacific Corp. on its acquisition of Norfolk Southern Corp. Latham & Watkins, the second-largest firm in the world by revenue (behind only Kirkland & Ellis), is at No. 4.
• Sullivan & Cromwell LLP trades spots with Kirkland, moving up to No. 5 (where it was two years ago). According to Sullivan & Cromwell’s 2025 review, the firm worked on every one of the six largest U.S. bank transactions. Kirkland now sits in the No. 6 spot; in 2025, Kirkland became the first law firm to top $10 billion in revenue. Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP remains at No. 7.
• Paul, Weiss, which was targeted by an executive order and was the first firm to make a deal with the Trump administration, drops from No. 8 to No. 13. The firm had been in the top 10 for the previous eight years.
• Of the eight other firms that made deals with the Trump administration, the five in the top 10 saw downward changes in their average scores but no change in their rankings (Skadden, Latham, Kirkland, Milbank, and Simpson Thacher). Of the other three, one saw a rankings jump (A&O Shearman) and two saw their average scores and rankings decline (Willkie Farr and Cadwalader). The rankings of A&O Shearman and Cadwalader are discussed in more detail later in this blog post.
• Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher rises from No. 11 to No. 8. A recent article from the New York Law Journal highlights the firm’s growth; its New York City office has increased its headcount by 40% in the last 5 years. Although 2025 figures are not yet available, in 2024 the firm saw a 16% increase in revenue.
• The firm with the greatest overall increase in the Vault 100 rankings was Jenner & Block, moving up 17 spots from No. 60 to No. 43. Jenner & Block was targeted with an executive order and challenged the order in court. The other firms that were targeted with executive orders and challenged those orders in court also saw rankings gains: Perkins Coie gains 4 spots (moving from No. 28 to No. 24), WilmerHale picks up 2 spots (going from No. 27 to No. 25), and Susman Godfrey moves up 4 spots, breaking into the Vault 20 (moving from No. 23 to No. 19). Notably, Susman Godfrey was already on the rise; last year, it moved up 5 spots. Another large gainer was Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, which picks up 7 spots, rising from No. 36 to No. 29. Last year, Munger Tolles also moved up 7 spots. Munger Tolles is one of the firms that filed an amicus brief in support of Perkins Coie’s executive order challenge.
• Looking at recently merged firms, London-based Allen & Overy LLP (which had a considerable U.S. presence) combined with New York-based Shearman & Sterling LLP in May 2024. The new firm, A&O Shearman, debuted at No. 62 in the Vault 100 last year and picks up 6 spots this year to move to No. 56. McDermott Will & Schulte, formed when McDermott Will & Emery and Schulte Roth & Zabel merged in 2025, appears on this year’s list at No. 46 (last year, McDermott Will & Emery was No. 43 and Schulte Roth & Zabel was No. 87). HSF Kramer, formed when Herbert Smith Freehills and Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP combined earlier this year, does not appear in the top 100 but is certainly a name to watch (Kramer Levin was No. 92 last year). In prior years, merged firms often entered the rankings below the prestige ranking of the higher-ranked firm; that held true this year as well.
• The largest rankings drop was seen by Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, which drops 8 spots from No. 56 to No. 64. The firm saw partner departures and merger speculation in 2025 before announcing that it will merge with Hogan Lovells, a firm that is currently No. 30. Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP drops 7 spots from No. 66 to No. 73; Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP also has a 7-spot decline from No. 31 to No. 38. Two firms had 6-spot drops: Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP drops from No. 29 to No. 35, returning to its ranking from two years ago, and Boies Schiller Flexner LLP (a firm that was in the top 20 a decade ago) falls from No. 55 to No. 61.
• In the largest regional markets, the top firm remains unchanged: New York City (Wachtell Lipton); Washington, DC (Covington & Burling); Northern California (Cooley); Southern California (Latham & Watkins); Texas (Vinson & Elkins); Chicago (Kirkland); and Boston (Ropes & Gray).
• Wachtell Lipton, the No. 2 firm in the Vault 100, holds on to the No. 1 spot this year in the highly competitive General Corporate Practice and Mergers & Acquisitions rankings. Latham & Watkins (No. 4 in the Vault 100) moves into the No. 1 spot in Securities/Capital Markets and Clean Tech/Renewable Energy. Kirkland & Ellis (No. 6 in the Vault 100) rules over four individual practice area rankings: Private Equity, Banking & Financial Services, Bankruptcy/Restructuring, and Products Liability. Cooley LLP, a go-to firm for growing tech companies, takes the top spot in Emerging Companies & Venture Capital, Privacy & Data Security, and Life Sciences (the last is a new category Vault introduced this year). Covington & Burling LLP is the top firm in White Collar & Investigations and Government Relations (the latter is another new category). In the major litigation categories, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP remains the leader in General Commercial Litigation and Williams & Connolly LLP is No. 1 in Appellate Litigation. The top firm in the Vault 100, Cravath, is No. 1 in Securities Litigation.
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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 April 15, 2026.
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