49 Lawyers Make Partner at Nation’s 10 Most Prestigious Law Firms
The nation’s 10 most prestigious law firms announced the promotion of 49 partners this year, but the firm in the No. 1 spot didn’t contribute to the total.
Above the Law obtained press releases from the 10 most prestigious firms as ranked by Vault and tallied the numbers. “Unlike last year, when firms seemed to be shrinking their new partner classes, this year the overall picture seems cautiously optimistic,” the blog says.
The top-ranked firm didn’t announce any new partners, and the second-ranked firm announced only one. Here are Above the Law’s results from the five firms top-ranked for prestige:
• Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz: No new partners were announced, but the firm is small and the results often vary widely.
• Cravath, Swaine & Moore: A press release is “a little sad,” the blog says; it announced just one new partner.
• Sullivan & Cromwell: Eight lawyers were promoted to partner, including three litigators.
• Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom: The firm named six partners in April, the month when it makes partnership announcements.
• Davis Polk: The firm also names its partners earlier in the year, announcing four new partners in July.
The next five firms—Simpson Thacher & Bartlett; Weil; Williams & Connolly; Cleary Gottlieb; and Covington & Burling—collectively promoted 30 lawyers to partnership this year, according to their press announcements.
