from Second Quarter 2010
Corporate Board Member
Picking the right outside counsel has never been so important, given the enormous number of new rules and regulations affecting corporate governance. But even though the heat is on to select the best, the 340 directors who voted in the 2010 Corporate Board Member/FTI Consulting survey showed an impressive consistency with how they cast their ballots in previous years. Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom hangs on to the same top spot it has occupied every year since we first published this survey in 2001. And Cravath Swaine & Moore, Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz, Jones Day, Sullivan & Cromwell, and a handful of others continue to jostle for position on the list, some edging ahead of last year’s ranking, others dropping back a notch or two. The Top 20 has also lost some familiar names. Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson, No. 20 in 2009, fell off the 2010 list, as did Hogan & Hartson, No. 19 last year. Taking their spots are Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, which placed 16th, and Vinson & Elkins, 18th.
See the the biggest firms in 25 metropolitan areas and a separate survey that shows general counsels’ choice of the country’s 20 best law firms.
The Top 20 Firms | Last Year's Ranking |
| 1. SKADDEN ARPS SLATE MEAGHER & FLOM New York | 1 |
| 2. CRAVATH SWAINE & MOORE New York | 3 |
| 3. WACHTELL LIPTON ROSEN & KATZ New York | 4 |
| 4. JONES DAY Washington, D.C. | 2 |
| 5. SULLIVAN & CROMWELL New York | 5 |
| 6. WEIL GOTSHAL & MANGES New York | 6 |
| 7. LATHAM & WATKINS Los Angeles | 9 |
| 8. BAKER & MCKENZIE Chicago | 11 |
| 9. KIRKLAND & ELLIS Chicago | 8 |
| 10. DAVIS POLK & WARDWELL New York | 13 |
| 11. PAUL WEISS RIFKIND WHARTON & GARRISON New York | 17 |
| 12. GIBSON DUNN & CRUTCHER Los Angeles | 7 |
| 13. FULBRIGHT & JAWORSKI Houston | 10 |
| 14. SHEARMAN & STERLING New York | 16 |
| 15. SIDLEY AUSTIN New York | 15 |
| 16. AKIN GUMP STRAUSS HAUER & FELD Washington, D.C. | - |
| 17. WILSON SONSINI GOODRICH & ROSATI Palo Alto | 14 |
| 18. VINSON & ELKINS Houston | - |
| 19. COVINGTON & BURLING Washington, D.C. | 18 |
| 20. O'MELVENY & MYERS Los Angeles | 12 |
Source: Corporate Board Member/FTI Consulting
topic tags: corporate governance, board of directors, legal/regulatory, general counsel