Top BigLaw Firms for Commercial Litigation in Washington, DC
Every firm in our directory with a Washington, DC office that Chambers USA 2026 ranks for commercial litigation in District of Columbia, strongest band first. Latham & Watkins LLP leads with Band 1 (The Elite), one of 5 firms in Band 1.
- Ranked firms
- 35
- Band 1 firms
- 5
- Median first-year base
- $225,000
35 ranked firms for commercial litigation in Washington, DC
| # | Firm | Chambers 2026 | First-year base | 2L summer applications |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latham & Watkins LLP Vault #4 |
| $225,000 | Opened Nov 1Deadline Jan 29, 2027 |
| 2 | Kirkland & Ellis LLP Vault #6 |
| $225,000 | Opened Nov 1 |
| 3 | Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP Vault #8 |
| $225,000 | Opened Nov 2Deadline Feb 5, 2027 |
| 4 | Covington & Burling LLP Vault #12 |
| $225,000 | Dec 1, 2026 |
| 5 | Williams & Connolly LLP Vault #17 |
| $260,000 | Expected late fall 2026 |
| 6 | Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP Vault #14 |
| $235,000 | Opened Nov 1 |
| 7 | Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP Vault #25 |
| $225,000 | Open now |
| 8 | Hogan Lovells Cadwalader Vault #30 |
| $225,000+ | Opened Nov 1Deadline Mar 31, 2027 |
| 9 | Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick, P.L.L.C. Vault #70 |
| $255,000+ | Expected June 2027 |
| 10 | Sidley Austin LLP Vault #11 |
| $225,000+ | Opened Nov 1 |
| 11 | Jones Day Vault #26 |
| $240,000 | Open now |
| 12 | O'Melveny & Myers LLP Vault #28 |
| $225,000+ | Open nowDeadline Jan 31, 2027 |
| 13 | Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP Vault #32 |
| $225,000 | Dec 14, 2026 |
| 14 | King & Spalding LLP Vault #36 |
| $225,000 | Open now |
| 15 | Jenner & Block LLP Vault #43 |
| $225,000+ | Open now |
| 16 | Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP Vault #3 |
| $225,000 | Opened Nov 2 |
| 17 | Sullivan & Cromwell LLP Vault #5 |
| $235,000+ | Opened Nov 1Deadline Mar 5, 2027 |
| 18 | Boies Schiller Flexner LLP Vault #61 |
| $225,000+ | Open now |
| 19 | Crowell & Moring LLP Vault #65 |
| $215,000 | See the Job Board |
| 20 | White & Case LLP Vault #18 |
| $225,000+ | Opened Nov 1 |
| 21 | Cooley LLP Vault #22 |
| $255,000+ | Opened Oct 31Deadline Jan 29, 2027 |
| 22 | Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP Vault #35 |
| $225,000 | Opened Nov 1 |
| 23 | Winston Taylor LLP Vault #39 |
| $225,000+ | Open nowDeadline Mar 1, 2027 |
| 24 | DLA Piper LLP (US) Vault #42 |
| $225,000+ | Open now |
| 25 | Mayer Brown LLP Vault #44 |
| $225,000 | Opened Nov 2 |
| 26 | Steptoe LLP Vault #79 |
| $225,000+ | Not announced |
| 27 | Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP Vault #40 |
| $225,000+ | Not announced (last cycle Nov 1, 2025) |
| 28 | Dechert LLP Vault #51 |
| $225,000 | Opened Nov 1 |
| 29 | Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP Vault #93 |
| $225,000 | See the Job Board |
| 30 | Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP Vault #47 |
| $225,000 | Open now |
| 31 | A&O Shearman LLP Vault #56 |
| $225,000+ | Expected announced soon |
| 32 | Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP Vault #60 |
| $225,000+ | Dec 1, 2026 |
| 33 | Dentons US LLP Vault #62 |
| $225,000+ | Expected early 2027 |
| 34 | Venable LLP Vault #69 |
| $215,000 | Not announced |
| 35 | ArentFox Schiff LLP Vault #80 |
| $215,000 | Not announced |
Chambers bands from Chambers USA 2026, District of Columbia tables; Band 1 is the strongest, and a “Highly Regarded” band sits below every “Elite” band. Pay is each firm’s first-year base; summer dates come from each firm’s own page via the BigLaw Job Board. How rankings work
Commercial Litigation in other cities
- Commercial Litigation in New York57 firms
- Commercial Litigation in Los Angeles33 firms
- Commercial Litigation in San Francisco29 firms
- Commercial Litigation in Chicago26 firms
- Commercial Litigation in Silicon Valley24 firms
- Commercial Litigation in Dallas23 firms
- Commercial Litigation in Miami23 firms
- Commercial Litigation in Boston22 firms
- Commercial Litigation in Houston20 firms
- Commercial Litigation in Philadelphia16 firms
- Commercial Litigation in Atlanta14 firms
- Commercial Litigation in Orange County13 firms
Other practices in Washington, DC
- White Collar Defense41 firms
- Antitrust37 firms
- Healthcare29 firms
- Intellectual Property (Patent)28 firms
- Environmental21 firms
- Government Regulatory / Public Policy21 firms
- Tax18 firms
- Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation17 firms
- Real Estate16 firms
- Corporate / M&A15 firms
- Labor & Employment15 firms
- Insurance / Reinsurance14 firms