Most overrated T14?

[which one?]

which one?

Yale

 17 (5%)

Harvard

 14 (4.2%)

Stanford

 2 (0.6%)

Columbia

 7 (2.1%)

Chicago

 11 (3.3%)

Penn

 58 (17.2%)

NYU

 26 (7.7%)

Boalt

 17 (5%)

Michigan

 33 (9.8%)

UVa

 10 (3%)

Duke

 30 (8.9%)

Cornell

 48 (14.2%)

Northwestern

 14 (4.2%)

GULC

 50 (14.8%)

Total Members Voted: 336

[stricly bricly]

some of the happiest lawyers i've met were a mediation specialist and a litigator who had an employment law firm that was literally just them and an assistant in a nice office on wilshire. 

@#!* vault.

[AmyWaxFanClubPresident]

I should clarify - I didn't mean the rankings are accurate in the V10/5.  I meant that there is a much bigger difference between a V5 firm and other firms than between firms that are say 20 and 28.  For W&C, thats why I was suggesting chambers and partners.  W&C might be the most prestigious litigation firm, but Skadden would be better for corporate.

It's good to use, but in many ways it is similar to law school rankings.  There is not much difference probably outside the V10 (arguably V5).  Chambers and partners (combined with Vault), is a much better tool.

aren't you still giving the rankings some weight though by saying that V10 or V5 is a separate category?  i mean do we really think skadden is a better firm than W&C?

I totally agree with you Wallace; what's the point if they are all paying you the same.

the point is that they give a rough idea of what your options are if after a couple of years at a firm, you decide to move elsewhere, e.g. different firm, public interest, government, etc.

[MorningLattes]

I agree to a limited extent.  Overall vault ranking is not as important as practice group rating.  But to say they all pay the same is not a good argument.  The work you will do and your exit options depend on where you practice.

Eh.  It stills seems like asking whether you can break Vault10 is silly when they all pay the same amount plus/minus bonus.  I'm still surprised that the legal profession -- widely considered a literary profession by layman -- has so many rankings.

I totally agree with you Wallace; what's the point if they are all paying you the same.
But this profession is all about prestige, so this obsession with providing rankings seems inevitable

Very true Amy. But I still believe too many people seem to think it's V_ or bust.

[Private David Lewis]

vault is a pile of crap in my honest opinion. 

Yeah, but people seem to pay attention to it.   

what people?

Many of my classmates. 

After a couple interviews this break, for instance, I told a friend of mine that I liked X firm better than Y firm, and she said, but Y firm is ranked higher on Vault.  And then another person was like, yeah person Z told me he was going to such-and-such firm, but it's not even on the Vault 100.  Blah blah. 

[AmyWaxFanClubPresident]

These people end up very unhappy.  I know many Penn students who chose practice group strength and personal fit over vault ranking.  This is the right way to go.  It's analogous to hating NY but choosing NYU over Chicago.

vault is a pile of crap in my honest opinion. 

Yeah, but people seem to pay attention to it.   

what people?

Many of my classmates. 

After a couple interviews this break, for instance, I told a friend of mine that I liked X firm better than Y firm, and she said, but Y firm is ranked higher on Vault.  And then another person was like, yeah person Z told me he was going to such-and-such firm, but it's not even on the Vault 100.  Blah blah. 

[AmyWaxFanClubPresident]

Somehow we have gone from discussing law schools ITT to discussing law firm rankings.

[stricly bricly]

well, penn pretty much soaked up all the votes here, easily.

[stricly bricly]

before i went to bed last night (this morning) boalt had 0 votes.  obviously a spate of bitter penn students has infected the board since then.

[t L]

How sad.  I thought that Michigan would win for sure.

What's up with the anti-Michigan trolling lately, Walls?

You got into Chicago.  That deferral shouldn't sting as much now. 

[oscist]

I voted for Boalt.