This morning, U.S. News and Best Lawyers, the leading survey of lawyers worldwide, released their ranking of nearly 9,000 law firms in 81 practice areas in 171 metropolitan areas and 7 states (methodology here). Although the U.S. News law school rankings list the Top 100 law schools (with the remaining law schools grouped in Tier 3 and Tier 4), the U.S. News law firm group the list firm practice areas in three tiers. 119 law firms are ranked in tax:
Tier 1 (36 firms):
- Baker Botts
- Baker Hostetler
- Baker & McKenzie
- Bingham McCutchen
- Caplin & Drysdale
- Chamberlain, Hrdlicka, White, Williams & Martin
- Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore
- Davis Polk & Wardwell
- Debevoise & Plimpton
- Dewey & LeBoeuf
- Ernst & Young
- Fulbright & Jaworski
- Hochman, Salkin, Rettig, Toscher & Perez
- Ivins, Phillips & Barker
- Jones Day
- Kirkland & Ellis
- Latham & Watkins
- Mayer Brown
- McDermott Will & Emery
- Miller & Chevalier
- Morrison & Foerster
- Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
- Roberts & Holland
- Ropes & Gray
- Sidley Austin
- Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
- Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
- Steptoe & Johnson
- Sullivan & Cromwell
- Sullivan & Worcester
- Sutherland
- Vinson & Elkins
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
- Weil, Gotshal & Manges
- WilmerHale
Tier 2 (47 firms):
- Alston + Bird
- Bradley Arant Boult Cummings
- Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft
- Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass
- Cooley
- Davis Wright Tremaine
- Dechert
- DLA Piper
- Dorsey & Whitney
- Drinker Biddle & Reath
- Duane Morris
- Fennemore Craig
- Fenwick & West
- Foley & Lardner
- Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson
- Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
- Gibson Dunn
- Goodwin Procter
- Greenberg Traurig
- Gutter Chaves Josepher Rubin Forman Fleisher
- Holland & Hart
- Holme Roberts & Owen
- Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn
- K&L Gates
- Kadish, Hinkel & Weibel
- Katten Muchin Rosenman
- King & Spalding
- KPMG
- Lane Powell
- LeSourd & Patten
- Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell
- Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
- Paul Hastings
- Pepper Hamilton
- Perkins Coie
- Proskauer Rose
- Quarles & Brady
- Reed Smith
- Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren
- Shearman & Sterling
- Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton
- Squire, Sanders & Dempsey
- Stoel Rives
- Thompson Hine
- Thompson & Knight
- Ulmer & Berne
- Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease
Tier 3 (36 firms)
- Akerman Senterfitt
- Andrews Kurth
- Arnall Golden Gregory
- Atlass Professional Corp.
- Ballard Spahr
- Berenbaum Weinshienk
- Bryan Cave
- Cantor & Webb
- Davis Graham & Stubbs
- DeBruyn Law Offices
- Faegre & Benson
- Fredrikson & Byron
- Gardere Wynne Sewell
- Gray Plant Mooty
- Gunster, Yoakley & Stewart
- Holland & Knight
- Joseph H. Thibodeau
- Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel
- McCarter & English
- McGuireWoods
- Nixon Peabody
- Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
- Packman, Neuwahl & Rosenberg
- Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
- Robinson & Diss
- Rothgerber Johnson & Lyons
- Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt
- Sherman & Howard
- Sirote & Permutt
- Thede Culpepper Moore Munro & Silliman
- Thompson Coburn
- Tonkon Torp
- Troutman Sanders
- White & Case
- Winstead
- Winston & Strawn
Press and blogosphere coverage:
- ABA Journal, Sidley, K&L Gates Tout Most Top-Tier Spots in New US News Law Firm Rankings
- Above the Law, U.S. News Launches First Official Law Firm Rankings
- National Law Journal, New System of Ranking Law Firms Draws Mixed Reviews
- Wall Street Journal Law Blog, Here They Are: The U.S. News & World Report Law Firm Rankings
