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All rankings are imperfect but Vault is probably the least imperfect firmwide ranking. Chambers is better for practice groups and individual lawyers (but still not perfect).
The rankings don’t matter in and of themselves. But they are a rough measure of prestige, which is a (very) rough measure of quality. If you have no other basis to decide between offers from a V5 and a V50, you probably should start at the V5 just because in general that brand will provide the same kind of resume juice as going to Harvard Law rather than Arkansas Law (sorry, Razorback fans, but I needed an example and today it was your alma mater).
That said firms you might apply to laterally in the future all have their own measures of quality and those measures may not correlate at all to any general ranking. For example I work in a branch office of a V25 based on the East cost. If we’re looking for a 4th year capital markets associate and see a resume from someone from DPW, Skadden, or Cravath, we know the person probably has excellent experience working on big deals for great lawyers, because those firms are among the elite firms in the world in that practice area. But if we’re looking for a fourth year litigation associate we almost certainly wouldn’t hire someone from one of those firms, despite their elite Vault rankings. Why? Because litigators in NYC are developmentally way behind litigators in other markets and some other firms, such as Quinn Emmanuel and Sussman Godfrey.
If you have the freedom to be selective about your first firm and have a pretty clear idea of what you want to do, go to work for the best lawyers in your chosen market, wherever they work. Chambers is a pretty good way to find most of them and if you find a firm that has a cluster of Chambers ranked partners in the same practice area, that’s a really good sign of quality. If you’re not sure what practice area you want to work in, go to the fanciest firm you can and try to work in several substantive areas. When you settle into a particular practice you’ll have a nice first job on your resume if and when you decide to move.
Subject Expert
Beware any high limit poker player who enters the courtroom. Those are some dangerous trial lawyers.
I’m a “V50” partner and they don’t matter to me. There’s too much variance among practice groups and offices. Are we really saying that someone should go to Skadden Houston over Susman Godfrey if they want to litigate? Are we saying someone should go to Jones Day NYC over Willkie NYC if they want to do PE? Are we saying someone should go to S&C SV over Wilson Sonsini or Fenwick to do VC work? None of these moves would make sense, but according to Vault they would.
I also challenge the start as high as you can because you can lateral later argument. It really helps to start where you want to stay because those extra years of building relationships can really help you make partner. I’ve also lateraled “up” the Vault rankings twice and I think people way overstate the difficulty of doing this.
Mentor
There’s plenty of really good firms who aren’t in the top 50, let alone the top 10. The rankings might mean something if you don’t know anything about the firms that are listed but anyone who is sitting around saying (for example) that Williams & Connolly or Munger Tolles are not great firms because they aren’t top 10 doesn’t understand the industry. Same with most of what I see listed in the top 100.
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I purposefully chose a lower ranked V35 firm and tier 3 practice area over a V5 tier 1 practice area so I could have more work life balance, have friendlier and less competitive coworkers, and have a greater shot at making partner. Sounds strange but the rankings mattered to me in the opposite way lol
Subject Expert
Also a totally legit viewpoint. The only downside is that it’s easier to move from a V5 to a V35 than the other way around. I encourage people starting out to preserve options as best they can.
Subject Expert
Cosign TL1's excellent overview and add: the economics to pay "market" bonuses don't work at lower ranked firms, so if you join a firm lower down the rankings, don't expect to get the type/amt of bonus you read about for top firms. And this is regardless of how hard you work.
Directionally they matter but shouldn’t be taken too literally. It’s definitely easier to move (to boutique or in house or another firm) when you’re coming from a higher ranked firm than a lower ranked one. It’s not entirely rational but is what it is.
As a general idea of the type of firm it is. I.e. if it’s considered a biglaw firm or mid market. Other than that, it’s just a silly prestige thing and marketing point for the firms.
Don’t forget to compare your specific group’s rankings as well as the general firm’s rankings.
I just moved to a lower (not by much) vault ranked firm because the new firm is *much* better ranked in my city and my group is much better and more important at the firm, and the new firm is more profitable. Chambers rankings are more accurate IMO if you’re looking for something besides general prestige perception. When you actually do the vault survey you realize how silly it is. People put firms at low rankings cus they dislike people from law school who went there
In general for NYC corporate law, they make sense. Outside of that it’s pretty questionable. Local rankings matter, as do practice groups. (Chambers can be ok but I’ve seen some highly questionable things that make me doubt it’s legitimacy as well.) The further you get from general business lit and general corporate, the less Vault matters. Of the V10, only maybe 3 have excellent practices in say patent litigation.