The Legal Billionaires: America’s Top 10 Law Firms for 2025

The US legal market continues to dominate the global industry, with its top firms setting records for revenue and profitability. These institutions are the driving force behind the world’s largest mergers, private equity transactions, and high-stakes corporate litigation.

The elite status of these firms is measured not just by lawyer headcount, but by Gross Revenue (the largest size), Profits Per Equity Partner (PEP) (the highest profitability), and Prestige (the best reputation, as voted by peers).

Here is the definitive list of the top law firms in the US, defined by their colossal financial power and elite reputation.

🏆 The Overall Top 10 (A Blend of Revenue & Prestige)

This list highlights the firms that consistently score in the top tier across all major metrics, indicating unparalleled strength and influence.

Rank	Law Firm Name	Origin City	Key Metric (2024 Financials)	Core Areas of Dominance
1	Kirkland & Ellis	Chicago	Highest Gross Revenue (~$8.8B) and PEP ($9.25M)	Private Equity, M&A, Restructuring, High-Stakes Litigation
2	Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz	New York	Highest Revenue Per Lawyer (RPL ~$4.47M)	Hostile M&A, Takeover Defense, Crisis Management
3	Latham & Watkins LLP	Los Angeles	Global Footprint & Revenue (~$7B)	M&A, Capital Markets, Energy, Finance
4	Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP	New York	Most Prestigious (Vault Rank #1)	General Corporate Practice, M&A, Securities
5	Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom	New York	M&A & Corporate Restructuring Powerhouse	M&A, Corporate Restructuring, Antitrust
6	Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP	New York	Elite M&A and Capital Markets	Capital Markets, M&A, Financial Regulation
7	Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP	New York	Undisputed Private Equity Leader	Private Equity, M&A, Banking, Fund Formation
8	Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison	New York	Top-tier PEP ($7.54M)	Private Equity, Litigation, White-Collar Defense
9	Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP	Los Angeles	Top-tier Litigation & Appellate Law	Litigation, Corporate M&A, Investigations
10	Sullivan & Cromwell LLP	New York	Preeminent in Banking & Finance	M&A, Capital Markets, Financial Services Regulation

📈 Defining Success: Money and Reputation

The competition among US law firms is primarily measured through two lenses: Profitability and Prestige.

1. The Profit Powerhouses (PEP)

Profit Per Equity Partner (PEP) is the key metric showing the true health and wealth of a law firm. Firms with the highest PEP are often more selective in the work they take on, focusing on the most complex, high-margin matters.

The firms dominating the PEP charts consistently hover over $7 million per partner, led by:

Kirkland & Ellis ($9.25M)
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz ($9.04M)
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan ($8.64M) – a pure Litigation specialist.

2. Prestige and Influence (Vault Rankings)

Prestige is based on the reputation a firm holds among its peers and competitors. For the eighth consecutive year, Cravath, Swaine & Moore has topped the Vault prestige rankings, underscoring its historical influence on the legal industry, from its role in defining corporate law to setting the industry-wide benchmark for associate salaries (the “Cravath System”).

🔑 The Engine of US BigLaw: Private Equity

The massive growth of US law firms over the last decade has been disproportionately driven by the Private Equity (PE) industry.

Firms like Kirkland & Ellis and Simpson Thacher have become essential partners to the world’s largest PE funds (like Blackstone, KKR, and Carlyle). These funds require constant, high-volume, and highly profitable legal services for:

Fund formation.
Leveraged Buyouts (LBOs) of target companies.
Restructuring and eventual exit sales.

This specialization is what has vaulted firms like Kirkland & Ellis to the top spot globally, defining them as the true Kings of Capital in the modern legal world.