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Legendary southern hospitality meets an international travel hub and a robust legal market in the city of Atlanta. Georgia's capital holds the headquarters of some of the country's most prestigious law firms and work in any practice area you might desire. This article compares the top five Atlanta-headquartered firms from the 2024 Atlanta regional prestige rankings. For more Atlanta options, you can review Vault’s Atlanta prestige rankings and the Vault profiles of any firms you’re interested in.
The five top-ranked Atlanta-based firms based on Vault’s 2024 regional prestige rankings are King & Spalding; Alston & Bird; Kilpatrick Townsend; Bondurant Mixson & Elmore; and Troutman Pepper. Below are a few relevant highlights about each of these firms.
King & Spalding
The #1 firm in Atlanta and #39 in the 2024 Vault Law 100, King & Spalding operates 13 U.S. and ten international offices, including its Atlanta headquarters. King & Spalding is in the top five in the nation for two of our Practice Area rankings, landing the #5 spot in both Health Care and International. The firm employs over 1,000 attorneys and associates here describe the culture as warm and collaborative, with a billable hour requirement of 1,950. Partnership here is transparent and realistic, and senior non-partner roles are reportedly available here as well.
Alston & Bird
Alston & Bird holds the #2 spot in Vault’s Atlanta prestige rankings this year and also sits at #61 in the overall Vault Law 100. Alston & Bird operates out of ten U.S. and three international offices, employing over 750 attorneys. The firm ranks #30 in the Compensation category of our Best Law Firms to Work For rankings. The firm's most prestigious practice areas are Health Care at #15 and Privacy & Data Security at #18. Associates call the culture friendly and collegial. The firm has a 2,000 billable hour requirement, up to 150 of which can be pro bono hours. Partnership here is transparent and realistic, and exit opportunities are reportedly strong as well.
Kilpatrick Townsend
Landing at #4 in Vault’s 2024 Atlanta prestige rankings, Kilpatrick Townsend is another full-service international powerhouse. Headquartered in Atlanta, they have over 500 lawyers operating from 17 U.S. and four international offices. The firm is #17 in our Intellectual Property rankings. Associates report a relaxed and collegial culture, with a billable hour requirement of 1,950 that associates report being in tension with many project budgets. Making partner here is difficult but realistic and fairly transparent, and exit opportunities to in-house work are strong.
Bondurant Mixson & Elmore
Ranked at #5 in Vault’s 2024 Atlanta prestige rankings, #23 in our Litigation Specialty rankings, and appearing on our Top 150 Under 150 list, Bondurant Mixson & Elmore is a small litigation-focused firm currently operating from a single office in Atlanta. A relatively young firm founded in 1977, the firm emphasizes its willingness to engage in alternative fee arrangements with its clients. The firm is laser-focused on business litigation but does prominent work on both the plaintiff and defendant sides.
Troutman Pepper
Troutman Pepper sits at #6 in our Atlanta prestige rankings and at #85 in the Vault Law 100. Another large national firm, Troutman Pepper has over 1,000 attorneys working from its 23 U.S. offices. The current firm was born of a 2020 merger between Troutman Sanders in Atlanta and Pepper Hamilton in Philadelphia. This is another full-service firm, serving clients of all sizes across the country in over 20 practice areas.
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No matter how similar different firms may seem, our survey consistently reveals that they are very different places. As for these five Atlanta firms, if you simply want the most prestigious, it's hard to beat #1 at King & Spalding. If a litigation boutique with several prominent victories is more your speed, give Bondurant, Mixson & Elmore a close look. You can learn more about all these firms (and many others) through Vault’s law firm profiles and the firms’ websites. Remember: Think hard about your priorities, because no one firm is best at everything.
Best of luck from all of us at Vault Law on your legal job search!
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