Above the Law's Outside Counsel Rankings: Who You Gonna Call?
For the second year, Above the Law asked in-house counsel what they thought of their outside law firms. Of course, there are a multitude of ways of rating and ranking law firms, from deal tables to “profits-per-partner” to “prestige.” But there is no more crucial issue to firms than what clients -- or potential clients -- think of them. For Biglaw firms, the clients that truly matter are GCs and legal departments at America's top companies.
Who do in-house counsel call when they need legal help? Who do they call when their company can't afford to lose? The Above the Law Outside Counsel Rankings have been generated exclusively from surveys to in-house counsel at top companies. Their opinion is a true measure of law firm "prestige," -- the kind that leads directly to business.
Methodology
In late 2018 and through January of this year, we reached out to corporate counsel and in-house attorneys at thousands of companies, ranging from small and medium-sized private companies to large public corporations. Ultimately, roughly 1,000 in-house lawyers -- from nearly 500 companies and over 40 cities -- shared with us their evaluations of their companies’ outside law firms. Our survey was direct. We asked counsel two simple questions: 1.) “Which law firms does your company engage for legal services?” and 2.) “Please indicate the highest level legal work for which your company will engage the particular firm(s).” The “levels” of work were defined along a four-point scale:
- Cost-efficient, bulk tasks (1)
- Routine matters (2)
- High-value, complex matters (3)
- “Bet-the-company” matters (4)
Because of the “blunt instrument” nature of our question, we felt the resultant ratings were inapt for the purposes of an ordinal ranking. Thus, our first and second tiers comprise the 50 firms with the highest mean ratings based on this scale. Only firms with a minimum threshold number of ratings -- as adjusted for firm size -- were eligible for inclusion.
Litigation Finance: A New Way for Legal Departments and Law Firms to Add Value
The ATL Outside Counsel Rankings are an innovative look — from the clients' perspective — at Biglaw's most trusted and sought-after firms. Increasingly, those clients face enormous challenges aligning legal expenses with business objectives.
Leading corporate legal departments and law firms are exploring litigation financing as a useful tool to help their companies or clients control costs and provide flexibility. The latest Lake Whillans survey of roughly 400 attorneys found that, already, more than 40% have firsthand experience with litigation finance:
Do you have FIRSTHAND EXPERIENCE working with a litigation finance firm? 41% say yes.
Source: Lake Whillans 2018-19 survey of approximately 400 in-house and law firm attorneys
Litigation Finance: Opinions Vary on Why It’s the Right Move
What was your strongest motivation for seeking litigation finance?
- No. 1 response for in-house counsel: Hedge risk of litigation (43%)
- No. 1 response for law firm partners: Lack of funds for legal fees (48%)
Source: Lake Whillans 2018-19 survey of approximately 400 in-house and law firm attorneys
Outside Counsel:
Top Tier Firms
- Boies, Schiller & Flexner
- Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
- Cooley
- Covington & Burling
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore
- Davis Polk & Wardwell
- Debevoise & Plimpton
- Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
- Irell & Manella
- Keker, Van Nest & Peters
- Kellogg Hansen
- Kirkland & Ellis
- Latham & Watkins
- Paul, Weiss
- Perkins Coie
- Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan
- Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
- Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
- Sullivan & Cromwell
- Susman Godfrey
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
- Weil, Gotshal & Manges
- Williams & Connolly
- Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr
- Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Outside Counsel:
Second Tier Firms
- Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
- Alston & Bird
- Arnold & Porter
- Baker Botts
- Baker McKenzie
- Cadwalader
- Cahill Gordon
- Clifford Chance
- DLA Piper
- Fenwick & West
- Freshfields
- Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson
- Goodwin Procter
- Jenner & Block
- Jones Day
- K&L Gates
- Mayer Brown
- Milbank Tweed
- Morrison & Foerster
- Munger Tolles
- O'Melveny & Myers
- Proskauer
- Ropes & Gray
- Sidley Austin
- White & Case
Top Outside Counsel by
Industry
(* asterisk denotes new addition to list for 2019)
Consumer Products
- Baker McKenzie
- Fenwick & West*
- Hogan Lovells*
- Holland & Knight
- Jenner & Block
- Latham & Watkins
- Morrison & Foerster
- Skadden
- Venable
- White & Case
Energy
- Akin Gump
- Baker Botts
- Bracewell
- Gibson Dunn*
- Haynes & Boone
- Jackson Walker
- Latham & Watkins*
- Norton Rose Fulbright
- Vinson & Elkins
- Weil Gotshal
Media/Entertainment
- Davis Polk*
- Davis Wright Tremaine
- Gibson Dunn
- Kirkland & Ellis*
- Loeb & Loeb
- Manatt Phelps
- Munger Tolles & Olson
- O’Melveny & Myers*
- Paul Weiss*
- Weil Gotshal & Manges
Life Sciences/Health Care
- Cooley
- Goodwin Procter
- King & Spalding*
- Latham & Watkins
- McDermott Will & Emery
- Ropes & Gray
- Skadden
- Weil Gotshal*
- White & Case*
- Wilson Sonsini
Finance
- Cahill Gordon & Reindell
- Cleary Gottlieb
- Cravath Swaine & Moore
- Davis Polk & Wardwell
- Debevoise & Plimpton
- Kirkland & Ellis
- Simpson Thacher*
- Sullivan & Cromwell
- Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz
- Weil Gotshal*
Tech
- Cooley
- Cleary Gottlieb
- Davis Polk
- Farella Braun
- Fenwick & West
- Morrison & Foerster
- Orrick*
- Gibson Dunn
- Goodwin Procter
- Wilson Sonsini
A Significant Majority of In-House Counsel Would Use Litigation Finance Again
Source: Lake Whillans 2018-19 survey of approximately 400 in-house and law firm attorneys
FIRSTHAND EXPERIENCE by Industry
Would you use litigation finance again?
Source: Lake Whillans 2018-19 survey of approximately 400 in-house and law firm attorneys
Questions about our rankings?
Contact us at research@abovethelaw.com.
