YALE LAW vs HARVARD LAW

cherokeejew
Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:10:38 +0000

The Vault rankings have many problems, but those aren’t really them. Weil has always been top 10, recession or not, and certainly in New York it’s a fine choice over many of those firms, especially over a branch office like Covington or Kirkland. The real problem 2Ls have with Skadden and Weil is that they recruit at lower schools, so if they go there, people might not admire their prestige (the Skadden is a sweatshop argument would be more compelling if if wasn’t competing with Cravath and S&C). In terms of sheer strength of practices, Skadden matches up to anyone. Maybe Skadden is 6th in NY instead of 3rd, and Weil is 10th instead of 6th (and in fact they are often closer to that during their random fluctuations), but it’s not a big deal.

The real issue is the NY-centricness of the rankings. Firms like W&C, Munger, Irell etc. are severely underrated (by like 30 spots, not by 3). Also, really large TTTs like Baker McKenzie or DLA Piper are probably overrated in terms of desirability to go there as an associate. Lastly, of course the specialization of law firms makes them impossible to sum up in one number, so if you want to do appellate or IP or tax, the rankings might not tell you all that much.