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Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP vs. Kirkland & Ellis LLP

Side-by-side on the metrics that actually drive the student's call. Sources: Vault 2027, AmLaw 200 FY2025, and reported Chambers records from the years shown.

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Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP

Est. 1819

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP is a mid-size firm of ~572 attorneys, Vault #1 / AmLaw #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.

Kirkland & Ellis LLP

Est. 1909

Kirkland & Ellis LLP is a 2,000-plus-attorney global firm, Vault #6 / AmLaw #1. Jurisdiction-specific Chambers rankings include Band 1 in Antitrust, Asset Management M&A, and Banking & Finance. Operates from 23 offices worldwide.

Rankings & prestige
Vault rank
#1
AmLaw rank
#50
Reported Chambers Band 1 records
15 records
Vault rank
#6
AmLaw rank
#1
Reported Chambers Band 1 records
65 records
Compensation
First-year comp
$225,000+
Profits per partner
$7.20M
Firm revenue
$1.29B
Revenue per lawyer
$2.26M
First-year comp
$225,000+
Profits per partner
$11.12M
Firm revenue
$10.56B
Revenue per lawyer
$2.55M
Work & scale
Billable target
-
Partnership track
7 years
US associates per partner
3.3:1
Firm size (rounded to 50)
~550
Offices
3
Billable target
-
Partnership track
6 years
US associates per partner
1.2:1
Firm size (rounded to 50)
~4,150
Offices
23
Summer program
Offer rate
100%
Class size
143 (year not confirmed)
How associates get work
Rotation
Specific practice area
Yes
Offer rate
-
Class size
-
How associates get work
Free market
Specific practice area
Yes
Chambers by practice, market and year

Shared results are listed once. Green marks only a lower reported Chambers band for the same exact practice, market and year. Records with a missing year or market are not compared. Historical records are retained; individual ranking verification status is not available.

Shared rankings

Antitrust · Nationwide · 2026Band 1
Corporate/M&A · Nationwide · 2026Band 1 · The Elite
Corporate/M&A · New York · 2026Band 1 · The Elite
Litigation: General Commercial · New York · 2026Band 1 · The Elite
Tax · New York · 2026Band 1
Tax: Corporate & Finance · Nationwide · 2026Band 1
Securities: Litigation · Nationwide · 2026Band 2

Rank differences

AntitrustNew York · 2026
Band 1
Band 2
Banking & FinanceNationwide · 2026
Band 2
Band 1
Banking & FinanceNew York · 2026
Band 2
Band 1
Bankruptcy/RestructuringNew York · 2026
Band 1 · Highly Regarded
Band 1 · Elite
Capital Markets: High-Yield DebtNationwide · 2026
Band 2
Band 1
Capital Markets: Investment Grade Debt: Issuer CounselNationwide · 2026
Band 1
Band 3
Corporate Crime & InvestigationsNationwide · 2026
Band 1 · Highly Regarded
Band 1 · Elite
Employee Benefits & Executive CompensationNew York · 2026
Band 1
Band 3
Environment: Mainly TransactionalNationwide · 2026
Band 2
Band 1
Environment: Mainly TransactionalNew York · 2026
Band 1
Band 2
Intellectual Property: PatentNew York · 2026
Band 4
Band 1
Litigation: General CommercialNationwide · 2026
Band 2 · Elite
Band 1 · Elite

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

Data sources: Vault 2027, AmLaw 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 shown as “-”.