What Is BigLaw? A Plain-English Guide for Incoming Law Students

If you are heading to law school this fall, you have probably heard the term "BigLaw" thrown around constantly. Your pre-law advisor mentioned it. The internet is obsessed with it. Half the people on Reddit seem to either love it or hate it. But nobody actually explains what it means in plain English.

So let us fix that.

What BigLaw actually means

BigLaw is the informal name for the largest and most prestigious law firms in the United States. There is no official cutoff, but when people say BigLaw, they are generally referring to roughly the top 100 to 200 firms by revenue, headcount, or some combination of both.

These are firms like Cravath, Swaine & Moore, Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, Skadden, and Sullivan & Cromwell. They handle the largest, most complex legal matters in the world. Multi-billion-dollar mergers. Securities fraud cases. Cross-border private equity deals. Government investigations that make the front page of the Wall Street Journal.

The defining features of a BigLaw firm are pretty consistent:

• Size. Most BigLaw firms have at least 500 lawyers, and many have well over 1,000. Kirkland has nearly 4,000.
• Compensation. Starting salary for first-year associates at most BigLaw firms is $225,000, following what is called the Cravath scale (because Cravath sets the market rate and everyone else matches it).
• Clients. Fortune 500 companies, private equity sponsors, sovereign wealth funds, government agencies. These are not individuals buying a house. These are corporations with billions on the line.
• Offices. Most BigLaw firms have offices in multiple cities, often internationally. New York is the center of gravity, but DC, Chicago, LA, San Francisco, Houston, and London are all major markets.
• Prestige. For better or worse, BigLaw carries significant brand value in the legal profession. Working at a top firm opens doors that are difficult to open any other way.

How BigLaw is different from other law firms

Not every law firm is BigLaw, and the differences are real. Here is a rough breakdown of the legal market:

BigLaw (100-200 firms). High pay, high hours, sophisticated work, major clients. This is what most of this article is about.

Midsize firms (50-500 lawyers). Many pay well but below BigLaw market rates. The work is often similar but on smaller deals or cases. Culture tends to be more personal because the firm is smaller. Some midsize firms are incredible places to work.

Boutique firms (10-100 lawyers). Specialist firms that focus on one practice area, like antitrust litigation or patent prosecution. Some boutiques are more prestigious than most BigLaw firms in their specific niche. Wachtell Lipton is technically a boutique by headcount but is arguably the most elite firm in the country.

Small firms and solo practitioners. Everything else. Real estate closings, family law, criminal defense, immigration. This is where the majority of practicing lawyers actually work, even though it gets almost zero attention in law school.

The important thing to understand is that BigLaw is not better than these alternatives. It is different. It pays more and handles bigger matters, but it also demands more of your time and energy. Plenty of brilliant, happy lawyers never set foot in a BigLaw firm. But if you are interested in the BigLaw path, you need to understand how it works.

The ranking systems you will hear about

Law students are obsessed with rankings, and there are several different systems that all measure different things:

Vault 100 (V100). Based on surveys of associates at peer firms. It measures prestige and reputation. When someone says a firm is "V10" or "V50," they are referring to its position on the Vault ranking. It is the most commonly cited ranking among law students.

AmLaw 100/200. Based on revenue. The American Lawyer ranks firms by gross revenue and profits per partner. This tells you how much money a firm makes, which correlates with but is not identical to prestige.

Chambers rankings. Based on research into specific practice areas. Chambers ranks firms by practice group (Band 1 through Band 4) in specific geographies. This is the most useful ranking for understanding what a firm is actually good at.

You can compare all three of these on the BigLaw Bear firm directory, which pulls together Vault, AmLaw, and Chambers data in one place so you do not have to open 40 tabs.

Why BigLaw dominates law school culture

Here is the honest answer: money and prestige.

Law school is expensive. Tuition at a T14 school runs $60,000 to $70,000 per year. Most students graduate with $150,000 to $250,000 in debt. A $225,000 starting salary with annual bonuses of $20,000 to $115,000 makes that debt manageable in a way that a $75,000 government salary does not.

Beyond the money, BigLaw functions as a credentialing mechanism. A few years at a top firm signals to future employers that you can handle complex, high-stakes work. It opens the door to in-house positions at major companies, government roles, teaching, and other career paths. Some of those doors are very difficult to walk through without the BigLaw stamp on your resume.

That said, BigLaw is not the only path. And for many people, it is not the right path. If you are passionate about criminal defense, family law, immigration, or public interest work, you should pursue those things without apology. BigLaw is a tool, not a destination.

What the day-to-day is actually like

The romanticized version of BigLaw involves dramatic courtroom arguments and handshake deals in mahogany-paneled conference rooms. The reality is mostly sitting at your computer.

As a junior associate, you will spend your days:

• Reviewing documents for due diligence in M&A deals
• Drafting and redlining contracts, memos, and agreements
• Doing legal research on specific issues that come up in deals or cases
• Sitting on conference calls (often on mute) while partners and clients discuss strategy
• Managing checklists and closing binders for transactions
• Responding to emails at all hours because deals do not respect work-life boundaries

The work is intellectually challenging, but it is also repetitive in the early years. You are a small part of a very large machine. The autonomy and client interaction come later, usually around years three to five.

The hours are real. Most BigLaw associates work 50 to 70 hours per week on average, with spikes during busy periods where 80-plus-hour weeks are not unusual. The firm expects you to be available, and "available" often means evenings and weekends.

Should you pursue BigLaw?

That depends on what you want. Here is a quick gut check:

BigLaw might be right for you if:

• You want to work on the largest, most complex matters in the legal profession
• You have significant student debt and need the salary to manage it
• You want the resume credentialing that opens doors later
• You are okay with working long hours for the first few years of your career
• You are interested in corporate, finance, or complex litigation practice areas

BigLaw might not be right for you if:

• Work-life balance is your top priority from day one
• You are passionate about public interest, criminal defense, or family law
• You do not want to live in a major city
• The idea of billing your time in six-minute increments makes you want to scream
• You already know you want to start your own practice

There is no wrong answer. But the more you understand about what BigLaw actually is before you start law school, the better decisions you will make during recruiting season.

Getting started

If you are thinking about BigLaw, the best thing you can do right now is start learning about the firms. Browse the BigLaw Bear firm directory to compare firms by practice area, location, compensation, and Chambers rankings. When recruiting season comes around, you will be glad you did the homework early.