Munger Tolles Tops Law Firm A-List; Simpson Thacher Tumbles
Munger Tolles & Olson is No. 1 on the American Lawyer’s law firm A-List (reg. req.) of elite law firms.
Munger Tolles got the top spot two years running, the American Lawyer reports. The firm has a strong cultural commitment to pro bono, minorities make up 22 percent of its lawyers, and its associates are satisfied, largely because there aren’t too many associates, the story says.
The “Wall Street Journal <a href=”http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2009/06/30/munger-tolles-tops-amlaws-a-list-once-again/” title=Law Blog”>Law Blog explains the magazine’s A-list criteria this way: “The A-List looks at four factors—revenue per lawyer, commitment to pro bono, diversity among lawyers, and associate training and satisfaction—swirls them all up in a formula, and spits out a numeric score.” Munger Tolles beat the two second-best firms (it was a tie) by “a comfortable margin” of 34 points, the American Lawyer says.
The top five:
1) Munger, Tolles & Olson
2) Hughes Hubbard & Reed
2) Latham & Watkins
4) Davis Polk & Wardwell
5) Weil, Gotshal & Manges
The law firm that gained the most in the standings this year was Morrison & Foerster, which leaped to No. 9 from 20th place last year, largely because of improved associate satisfaction.
The firm that fell the most was Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, which plummeted from 14th place last year to No. 37 this year, largely because of a drop in associate satisfaction.
