Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP vs. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz vs. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Category by category. Sources: Vault 2027, Am Law 200 FY2025, and reported Chambers records from the years shown.

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Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP
Est. 1819
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Est. 1965
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
Est. 1948 · New York

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.

Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz

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.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Est. 1948 · New York

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is a 1,000-plus-attorney firm, Vault #3 / Am Law #5, founded in New York, NY. Jurisdiction-specific Chambers rankings include Band 1 in Antitrust, Asset Management M&A, and Capital Markets: Debt & Equity.

Rankings & prestige

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP#1
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz#2
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP#3

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP#50
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz#46
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP#5

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP15 records
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz8 records
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP40 records

: #1
: #50
: 15 records

Vault rank: #2
Am Law rank: #46
Reported Chambers Band 1 records: 8 records

Vault rank: #3
Am Law rank: #5
Reported Chambers Band 1 records: 40 records

Compensation

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP$225,000
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz$230,000
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP$225,000

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP$7.20M
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz$12.15M
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP$7.01M

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP$1.29B
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz$1.39B
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP$4.07B

Revenue per lawyer

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP$2.26M
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz$5.09M
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP$2.32M

: $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

First-Year Comp: $225,000
Profits Per Partner: $7.01M
Firm revenue: $4.07B
Revenue per lawyer: $2.32M

Work & scale

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLPNot Reported
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzNot Reported
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLPNot Reported

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP7 years
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzNot Reported
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLPNot Reported

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP3.4:1
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzNot Reported
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLPNot Reported

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP~550
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz~250
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP~1,750

Offices

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP4
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz1
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP21

: 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

Billable target: Not Reported
Partnership track: Not Reported
US associates per partner: Not Reported
Firm size (rounded to 50): ~1,750
Offices: 21

Summer Program

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP100%
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz100%
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP99.4%

Class size

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP143 (year not confirmed)
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz32 (2026)
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP190 (2026)

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLPRotation
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzNot Reported
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLPNot Reported

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLPYes
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzNo
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLPNo

: 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

Offer rate: 99.4%
Class size: 190 (2026)
How associates get work: Not Reported
Specific practice area: No

Chambers by practice, market and year

Green marks the stronger for the same practice, market and year. Shared results are listed once. split some top tables.

Shared rankings

Antitrust · New York · 2026Band 1

Corporate/M&A · Nationwide · 2026Band 1 · The Elite

Corporate/M&A · New York · 2026Band 1 · The Elite

Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation · New York · 2026Band 1

Tax · New York · 2026Band 1

Tax: Corporate & Finance · Nationwide · 2026Band 1

Rank differences

AntitrustNationwide · 2026

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLPBand 1
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzBand 3
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLPBand 1

Band 1

Band 3

Band 1

Litigation: General CommercialNew York · 2026

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLPBand 1 · Elite
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzBand 2 · Elite
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLPBand 1 · Elite

Band 1 · Elite

Band 2 · Elite

Band 1 · Elite

Litigation: SecuritiesNew York · 2026

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLPBand 1
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzBand 2
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLPBand 1

Band 1

Band 2

Band 1

Employee Benefits & Executive CompensationNationwide · 2026

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLPBand 2
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzBand 2
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLPBand 1

Band 2

Band 1

Litigation: General CommercialNationwide · 2026

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLPBand 2 · Elite
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzBand 4 · Elite
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLPBand 1 · Elite

Band 2 · Elite

Band 4 · Elite

Band 1 · Elite

Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government InvestigationsNew York · 2026

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLPBand 1 · Highly Regarded
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzBand 3 · Elite
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLPBand 1 · Elite

Band 1 · Highly Regarded

Band 3 · Elite

Band 1 · Elite

Securities: LitigationNationwide · 2026

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLPBand 2
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzBand 2
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLPBand 1

Band 2

Band 1

Banking & FinanceNationwide · 2026

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLPBand 2
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzBand 4
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLPBand 3

Band 2

Band 4

Band 3

Banking & FinanceNew York · 2026

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLPBand 2
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzBand 4
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLPBand 4

Band 2

Band 4

Bankruptcy/RestructuringNew York · 2026

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLPBand 1 · Highly Regarded
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzBand 2 · Elite
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLPBand 3 · Elite

Band 1 · Highly Regarded

Band 2 · Elite

Band 3 · Elite

Corporate Crime & InvestigationsNationwide · 2026

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLPBand 1 · Highly Regarded
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzBand 5 · Elite
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLPBand 2 · Elite

Band 1 · Highly Regarded

Band 5 · Elite

Band 2 · Elite

Firm-only and additional rankings remain available on each firm profile so missing coverage is not mistaken for a head-to-head loss.

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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”.