Law Firm Rankings

See the Best Hours 40.

This is a ranking of the shortest hours worked by midlevel associates. Associates at the #1 firm, Chapman and Cutler, averaged 49 hours worked (39.1 billed) per week. Associates at #161, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, worked on average 71.1 (and billed 62.5) hours per week.

There are 168 total hours in a week. Sleeping 8 hours a night, leaves you with 112 waking hours. Working 71.1 hours amounts to 63.5% of waking hours. (49 hours would be 43.8%.)

Pay includes both the salary and bonus. The following figures are based on Midlevel associates (3rd, 4th & 5th year). The data comes from The American Lawyer's 2005 Midlevel Associates Survey. Please visit that site (free registration required) to see complete survey results for each law firm.

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1-30 | 31-60 | 61-90 | 91-120 | 120-160
Rank Law Firm Main Office Participating Offices Total Midlevels Respondents Response Rate Hours Worked Hours Billed Salary + Bonus Hourly Rate
126 Alston & Bird Atlanta Atlanta; Charlotte, NC; New York; Raleigh; Washington, DC 122 66 54% 57.1 43.3 $132,791 $46.51
126 Fitzpatrick, Cella, Harper & Scinto New York Costa Mesa, CA; New York 33 19 58% 57.1 48.3 $191,842 $67.20
126 Vinson & Elkins Houston Austin, TX; Dallas; Houston; New York; Washington, DC 133 65 49% 57.1 45.9 $153,686 $53.83
126 Allen & Overy International Hong Kong; London; New York; Tokyo 38 19 50% 57.2 46.5 $207,995 $72.73
130 Barnes & Thornburg Indianapolis Chicago; Elkhart, IN; Fort Wayne, IN; Indianapolis; South Bend, IN 48 14 29% 57.3 45.2 $110,129 $38.44
130 Morrison & Foerster San Francisco Denver; Irvine, CA; Los Angeles; McLean, VA; New York; Palo Alto; San Diego; San Francisco; Tokyo; Walnut Creek, CA; Washington, DC 182 104 57% 57.3 46.3 $182,121 $63.57
132 Debevoise & Plimpton New York New York 133 20 15% 57.6 47.5 $198,497 $68.92
132 Proskauer Rose New York Boston; Los Angeles; New York; Newark 111 42 38% 57.6 47.3 $184,840 $64.18
132 Schulte Roth & Zabel New York New York 69 22 32% 57.6 48.6 $208,863 $72.52
135 Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Palo Alto Austin, TX; Palo Alto; Reston, VA; Salt Lake City; San Francisco; Seattle 138 29 21% 57.9 47.5 $184,671 $63.79
136 White & Case International Los Angeles; Miami; New York; San Francisco; Washington, DC 161 87 54% 58 46.8 $190,282 $65.61
136 King & Spalding Atlanta Atlanta; Houston; New York; Washington, DC 147 75 51% 58.1 45.1 $156,389 $53.83
138 DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary National Baltimore; Boston; Chicago; Dallas; New York; Palo Alto; Philadelphia; Raleigh; San Diego; San Francisco; Washington, DC 220 44 20% 58.3 46.6 $166,686 $57.18
139 O'Melveny & Myers Los Angeles Beijing; Century City, CA; Los Angeles; Menlo Park, CA; New York; Newport Beach, CA; San Francisco; Shanghai; Washington, DC 206 109 53% 58.6 46.9 $189,187 $64.57
139 Weil, Gotshal & Manges New York Austin, TX; Boston; Dallas; Houston; Miami; New York; Redwood Shores, CA; Washington, DC 197 71 36% 58.6 48.1 $205,044 $69.98
141 Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker National Atlanta; Costa Mesa, CA; Los Angeles; New York; San Diego; San Francisco; Stamford, CT; Washington, DC 154 139 90% 58.8 47.5 $178,633 $60.76
141 Sidley Austin Brown & Wood National Chicago; Los Angeles; New York; Washington, DC 255 97 38% 58.8 48.1 $185,943 $63.25
141 Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom New York Boston; Chicago; Los Angeles; New York; Washington, DC; Wilmington 316 79 25% 58.8 49.1 $195,752 $66.58
144 Davis Polk & Wardwell New York Frankfurt; Hong Kong; New York; Paris 144 13 9% 58.9 47.3 $194,609 $66.08
145 McKee Nelson Washington, DC New York; Washington, DC 25 11 44% 59.1 47.4 $217,424 $73.58
146 Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw National Chicago; Houston; Los Angeles; New York; Washington, DC 161 90 56% 59.3 48.5 $183,904 $62.02
146 Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson New York New York; Washington, DC 112 38 34% 59.4 47.4 $196,739 $66.24
146 Latham & Watkins National Chicago; Costa Mesa, CA; Frankfurt; Hamburg; London; Los Angeles; Menlo Park, CA; New York; Newark; Paris; Reston, VA; San Diego; San Francisco; Singapore; Washington, DC; 443 133 30% 59.5 48.3 $191,589 $64.40
149 Shearman & Sterling New York Beijing; Hong Kong; London; Menlo Park, CA; New York; Paris; San Francisco; Toronto, Ontario; Washington, DC 185 61 33% 59.7 48.3 $205,237 $68.76
150 Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton New York Moscow; New York; Paris; Rome; Washington, DC 188 47 25% 59.8 50.8 $203,299 $67.99
150 Kirkland & Ellis Chicago Chicago; London; Los Angeles; Munich; New York; San Francisco; Washington, DC 280 115 41% 59.9 48.9 $208,248 $69.53
152 Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll Philadelphia Philadelphia 45 15 33% 60 47.1 $135,517 $45.17
152 Simpson Thacher & Bartlett New York London; Los Angeles; New York; Palo Alto 225 54 24% 60 48.2 $207,473 $69.16
154 Clifford Chance International New York; Washington, DC 61 37 61% 60.3 47.2 $191,994 $63.68
155 Thacher Proffitt & Wood New York New York 47 29 62% 61.8 50.8 $196,382 $63.55
155 Cahill Gordon & Reindel New York New York 53 17 32% 61.9 49.1 $216,700 $70.02
157 Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft New York Charlotte, NC; London; New York; Washington, DC 89 33 37% 62.3 50.7 $201,045 $64.54
158 Sullivan & Cromwell New York Frankfurt; Hong Kong; London; Los Angeles; Melbourne; New York; Palo Alto; Paris; Sydney 161 71 44% 62.5 53 $204,769 $65.53
159 Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison New York New York 124 47 38% 64.2 50.8 $211,391 $65.85
160 Cravath, Swaine & Moore New York London; New York 106 35 33% 69.8 60.6 $199,263 $57.10
161 Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz New York New York 35 14 40% 71.1 62.5 $254,861 $71.69
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