Rank Order Rankles Law Prof, Who Hopes for Contradictory Best Law Firms List
U.S. News & World Report will be publishing another ranking this fall, partnering with Best Lawyers to determine the best law firms.
Northwestern University adjunct law professor Steven Harper hopes the law firms on the list bear little resemblance to the American Lawyer’s list of the nation’s 100 largest law firms. Writing at the American Lawyer, he says Am Law’s list, first published in 1985, has led law firms to push for higher profits, resulting in a culture of billings, billable hours and leverage ratios.
If the U.S. News list is decidedly different, would-be BigLaw associates would have to sift through the differing reports and think for themselves, Harper writes. “Such contradictory data would confuse newly minted attorneys and force them to develop their own criteria for decision,” he says.
But he’s not too hopeful. “I fear that students won’t bother focusing on the U.S. News methodology or its flaws,” he says. “More likely, whatever rankings emerge from the process will provide—as they have for so many deliberating the choice of a law school—an easy final answer.”
U.S. News has said it will publish two lists, one of the best law firms, and another of the best law firm workplaces. The magazine also plans to place the firms in tiers, rather than to rank-order them. The American Lawyer also started publishing a separate “A-list” eight years ago that focuses on associate satisfaction, diversity and pro bono. “The myopic focus on short-term dollars still dominates decisions in most big firms, but the A-List has joined the conversation,” Harper says.
Harper, who recently retired as a partner from Kirkland & Ellis, wonders if another list is in the offing. “Someday, maybe there will be a U.S. News formula for choosing a spouse,” he says. “Then won’t life be simple?”
