Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP vs. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Category by category. Sources: Vault 2027, Am Law 200 FY2025, and reported Chambers records from the years shown.
Who Wins Each Category
Each row stands on its own. There is no overall winner; weigh what matters to you.
| Category | Cravath | Wachtell |
|---|---|---|
| Higher pay winsNot Comparable | $225,000 | $230,000Estimate with bonus |
| Higher wins | $7.20M | $12.15M (wins this category) |
| Lower rank wins | #1 (wins this category) | #2 |
| Lower rank wins | #50 | #46 (wins this category) |
| Higher wins | $1.29B | $1.39B (wins this category) |
| More lawyers wins | 572 (wins this category) | 272 |
| OfficesMore offices wins | 4 (wins this category) | 1 |
| Nationwide, Chambers USA 2026More Band 1 tables wins | 6 tables (wins this category) | 3 tables |
| 2L OpensSummer 2028Earlier date wins | Jan 4, 2027 | Dec 1, 2026 (wins this category) |
| 1L OpensEarlier date wins | No 1L Program | No 1L Program |
Sources: Vault 2027 and Am Law 200 FY2025 rankings, Chambers USA 2026, first-year pay as each firm or the market reports it, and program dates from firm career pages on the Job Board. Missing data reads Not Reported and never counts as a loss.
Full Comparison
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP
Est. 1819
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Est. 1965
Est. 1819
Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP is a mid-size firm of ~572 attorneys, Vault #1 / Am Law #50. Jurisdiction-specific Chambers rankings include Band 1 in Antitrust, Capital Markets: Investment Grade Debt: Issuer Counsel, and Capital Markets: Investment Grade Debt: Manager Counsel.
Est. 1965
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is a ~272-attorney firm, Vault #2 / Am Law #46. Jurisdiction-specific Chambers rankings include Band 1 in Antitrust, Corporate/M&A, and Corporate/M&A: Takeover Defense.
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP#1
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz#2
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP#50
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz#46
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP15 records
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz8 records
- #1
- #50
- 15 records
- Vault rank
- #2
- Am Law rank
- #46
- Reported Chambers Band 1 records
- 8 records
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP$225,000
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz$230,000
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP$7.20M
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz$12.15M
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP$1.29B
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz$1.39B
Revenue per lawyer
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP$2.26M
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz$5.09M
- $225,000
- $7.20M
- $1.29B
- Revenue per lawyer
- $2.26M
- First-Year Comp
- $230,000
- Profits Per Partner
- $12.15M
- Firm revenue
- $1.39B
- Revenue per lawyer
- $5.09M
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLPNot Reported
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzNot Reported
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP7 years
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzNot Reported
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP3.4:1
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzNot Reported
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP~550
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz~250
Offices
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP4
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz1
- Not Reported
- 7 years
- 3.4:1
- ~550
- Offices
- 4
- Billable target
- Not Reported
- Partnership track
- Not Reported
- US associates per partner
- Not Reported
- Firm size (rounded to 50)
- ~250
- Offices
- 1
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP100%
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz100%
Class size
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP143 (year not confirmed)
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz32 (2026)
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLPRotation
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzNot Reported
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLPYes
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzNo
- 100%
- Class size
- 143 (year not confirmed)
- Rotation
- Yes
- Offer rate
- 100%
- Class size
- 32 (2026)
- How associates get work
- Not Reported
- Specific practice area
- No
1L program
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLPNo 1L summer program
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzNo 1L summer program
1L applications open
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLPNot Reported
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzNot Reported
2L applications open
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLPJan 4, 2027
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzDec 1, 2026
2L deadline
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLPNot announced
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzFeb 6, 2027
- 1L program
- No 1L summer program
- 1L applications open
- Not Reported
- 2L applications open
- Jan 4, 2027
- 2L deadline
- Not announced
- 1L program
- No 1L summer program
- 1L applications open
- Not Reported
- 2L applications open
- Dec 1, 2026
- 2L deadline
- Feb 6, 2027
Green marks the stronger for the same practice, market and year. Shared results are listed once. split some top tables.
Shared rankings
Rank differences
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLPBand 1
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzBand 3
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLPBand 1 · Elite
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzBand 2 · Elite
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLPBand 1
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzBand 2
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLPBand 2
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzBand 4
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLPBand 2
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzBand 4
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLPBand 1 · Highly Regarded
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzBand 2 · Elite
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLPBand 2 · Elite
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzBand 4 · Elite
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLPBand 1 · Highly Regarded
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzBand 3 · Elite
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLPBand 1 · Highly Regarded
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzBand 5 · Elite
Firm-only and additional rankings remain available on each firm profile so missing coverage is not mistaken for a head-to-head loss.
See which of these firms are open on the Job Board
Data sources: Vault 2027, Am Law 200 FY2025, and reported Chambers records from the years shown. Chambers record counts can span years and reporting coverage varies; missing years or markets are not compared. Current Chambers bands were checked against each firm’s Chambers profile on Sep 26, 2026; where Chambers splits a table, every Elite firm ranks above every Highly Regarded firm. Missing values read “Not Reported”.
More head-to-head comparisons
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore vs. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore vs. Latham & Watkins
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore vs. Sullivan & Cromwell
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore vs. Kirkland & Ellis
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore vs. Davis Polk & Wardwell
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore vs. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore vs. Milbank
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore vs. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore vs. Sidley Austin
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore vs. Covington & Burling
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore vs. Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore vs. Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
Firm data comes from each firm’s own publications, Chambers USA and Vault; see Cravath, Swaine & Moore and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz for sources and dates.