California's top law firms

The legal market

Satisfaction survey

Which firms in California offer the best associate experience?  

Band One Arnold & Porter Dechert Gibson Dunn Greenberg Glusker Hogan Lovells US  Katten Muchin Milbank Morgan Lewis Orrick Perkins Coie   Proskauer Rose  Seyfarth Shaw

Band Two Davis Polk Fish & Richardson Goodwin Gunderson Haynes and Boone Holland & Knight Hunton Andrews Kurth  Jones Day Latham & Watkins Mayer Brown Mintz Levin Paul Hastings Pillsbury Polsinelli Reed Smith  Ropes & Gray Sidley Austin Skadden Vedder Price White & Case WilmerHale Wilson Sonsini

Band Three Covington Crowell DLA Piper  Finnegan Freshfields  Foley & Lardner Fox Rothschild Greenberg Traurig Irell King & Spalding Kramer Levin

Expertise

If you're motivated by doing the best work possible, the industry-standard Chambers USA rankings are invaluable. Here are the best firms in California for the most common practice areas, plus the others that define the California market. There are lower bands and many more practice area rankings at chambers.com. Where significant market distinction occurs, Chambers USA ranks firms by city, e.g. in M&A.

M&A in LA	Band 1	Band 2	Band 3
	Latham & Watkins	Gibson, Dunn	Paul Hastings
	Skadden	Sullivan & Cromwell
M&A in San Francisco and Silicon Valley	Band 1	Band 2	Band 3
	Skadden	Fenwick & West	Cooley
		Hogan Lovells US	Weil
		Latham & Watkins	Goodwin
		Wilson Sonsini	Morrison & Foerster
Corporate/M&A: private equity	Band 1	Band 2	Band 3
	Kirkland & Ellis	Simpson Thacher & Bartlett	Gibson, Dunn
		Ropes & Gray	Latham & Watkins
			Paul Hastings
			Weil
			Skadden
Litigation: general commercial	Band 1	Band 2	Band 3
	Gibson, Dunn	Cooley	Jones Day
	Munger, Tolles & Olson	Hueston Hennigan	O'Melveny & Myers
	Quinn Emanuel	Kirkland & Ellis	Orrick
		Latham & Watkins	Skadden
		Morrison & Foerster	Keker, Van Nest
			Sidley Austin
Banking & finance	Band 1	Band 2	Band 3
	Kirkland & Ellis	Gibson, Dunn	Skadden
	Latham & Watkins	Paul Hastings	Orrick
			Proskauer Rose
			White & Case
Capital markets	Band 1	Band 2	Band 3
	Cooley	Fenwick & West	Gibson, Dunn
	Davis Polk & Wardwell	Goodwin	Kirkland & Ellis
	Latham & Watkins	Sullivan & Cromwell	O'Melveny & Myers
	Simpson Thacher & Bartlett		Orrick
	Skadden		Sidley Austin
	Wilson Sonsini
Media & entertainment transactional	Band 1	Band 2	Band 3
	Latham & Watkins	Akin Gump	Gibson, Dunn
	Paul Hastings		Loeb & Loeb
			Manatt Phelps & Phillips
			O'Melveny & Myers
			Sheppard, Mullin
			Sidley Austin
			Skadden
Venture capital	Band 1	Band 2	Band 3
	Cooley	DLA Piper  (US)	Morrison & Foerster
	Fenwick & West	Goodwin	Perkins Coie
	Gunderson	Latham & Watkins	Pillsbury
		Orrick	WilmerHale
		Wilson Sonsini