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Top BigLaw Firms for Capital Markets / Securities

Diligence and drafting for securities offerings: registration statements, prospectus sections, comfort letter processes, and the closing mechanics on tight schedules. Chambers USA 2026 ranks 46 firms in our directory nationwide for capital markets, 26 of them in Band 1. Pick a city for the local tables.

Ranked nationwide
46
Cities with 3+ ranked firms
10

Capital Markets / Securities by city

Ranked nationwide, Chambers USA 2026

  1. 1.Davis Polk & Wardwell LLPFirst-year base $225,000+Band 1 · Capital Markets: Convertible Debt; Band 1 · Capital Markets: Equity: Issuer Counsel
  2. 2.Latham & Watkins LLPFirst-year base $225,000+Band 1 · Capital Markets: Convertible Debt; Band 1 · Capital Markets: Equity: Issuer Counsel
  3. 3.Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLPFirst-year base $225,000+Band 1 · Capital Markets: Equity: Issuer Counsel; Band 1 · Capital Markets: High-Yield Debt
  4. 4.Dechert LLPFirst-year base $225,000Band 1 · Capital Markets: Securitization: CLOs; Band 1 · Capital Markets: Securitization: CRE CLOs
  5. 5.Mayer Brown LLPFirst-year base $225,000+Band 1 · Capital Markets: Securitization: ABS; Band 1 · Capital Markets: Securitization: RMBS
  6. 6.Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLPFirst-year base $225,000+Band 1 · Capital Markets: Investment Grade Debt: Issuer Counsel; Band 1 · Capital Markets: Investment Grade Debt: Manager Counsel
  7. 7.Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLPFirst-year base $225,000+Band 1 · Capital Markets: Securitization: CLOs; Band 1 · Capital Markets: Securitization: CMBS
  8. 8.Hogan Lovells CadwaladerFirst-year base $225,000+Band 1 · Capital Markets: Securitization: CMBS; Band 1 · Capital Markets: Securitization: CRE CLOs
  9. 9.Kirkland & Ellis LLPFirst-year base $225,000+Band 1 · Capital Markets: High-Yield Debt; Band 1 · Capital Markets: Securitization: Whole Business
  10. 10.Paul Hastings LLPFirst-year base $225,000+Band 1 · Capital Markets: High-Yield Debt; Band 1 · Capital Markets: Securitization: CLOs
  11. 11.Hunton Andrews Kurth LLPFirst-year base $225,000+Band 1 · Capital Markets: Securitization: MSR; Band 1 · Capital Markets: Securitization: RMBS
  12. 12.Sidley Austin LLPFirst-year base $225,000+Band 1 · Capital Markets: Securitization: ABS; Band 2 · Capital Markets: Securitization: CMBS
  13. 13.Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLPFirst-year base $225,000+Band 1 · Securities: Regulation: Advisory; Band 2 · Capital Markets: Convertible Debt
  14. 14.Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLPFirst-year base $225,000+Band 1 · Capital Markets: Investment Grade Debt: Issuer Counsel; Band 2 · Capital Markets: Equity: Issuer Counsel
  15. 15.Dentons US LLPFirst-year base $225,000+Band 1 · Capital Markets: Securitization: RMBS; Band 2 · Capital Markets: Securitization: MSR
  16. 16.Alston & Bird LLPFirst-year base $225,000+Band 1 · Capital Markets: Securitization: Trustee Counsel; Band 2 · Capital Markets: Securitization: RMBS
  17. 17.Ropes & Gray LLPFirst-year base $225,000+Band 1 · Capital Markets: Securitization: Whole Business; Band 2 · Capital Markets: Equity: Manager Counsel
  18. 18.Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLPFirst-year base $225,000+Band 1 · Capital Markets: Securitization: RMBS; Band 2 · Capital Markets: Securitization: ABS
  19. 19.Winston Taylor LLPFirst-year base $225,000+Band 1 · Capital Markets: Securitization: PACE; Band 2 · Capital Markets: Securitization: RMBS
  20. 20.King & Spalding LLPFirst-year base $225,000+Band 1 · Capital Markets: Securitization: Whole Business; Band 2 · Capital Markets: Securitization: ABS
  21. 21.Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLPFirst-year base $225,000+Band 1 · Capital Markets: High-Yield Debt; Band 2 · Capital Markets: Investment Grade Debt: Manager Counsel
  22. 22.Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLPFirst-year base $225,000+Band 1 · Securities: Regulation: Advisory; Band 3 · Capital Markets: Investment Grade Debt: Issuer Counsel
  23. 23.White & Case LLPFirst-year base $225,000+Band 1 · Capital Markets: Securitization: Whole Business; Band 3 · Capital Markets: High-Yield Debt
  24. 24.Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLPFirst-year base $225,000+Band 1 · Securities: Regulation: Advisory; Band 3 · Capital Markets: Investment Grade Debt: Issuer Counsel
  25. 25.Milbank LLPFirst-year base $235,000+Band 1 · Capital Markets: Securitization: CLOs; Band 3 · Capital Markets: High-Yield Debt
  26. 26.Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLPFirst-year base $225,000+Band 1 · Securities: Regulation: Advisory
  27. 27.Cooley LLPFirst-year base $255,000+Band 2 · Capital Markets: Convertible Debt; Band 2 · Capital Markets: Equity: Issuer Counsel
  28. 28.Sullivan & Cromwell LLPFirst-year base $235,000+Band 2 · Capital Markets: Investment Grade Debt: Issuer Counsel; Band 2 · Capital Markets: Investment Grade Debt: Manager Counsel
  29. 29.Goodwin Procter LLPFirst-year base $255,000+Band 2 · Capital Markets: Convertible Debt; Band 2 · Securities: Regulation: Advisory
  30. 30.Clifford Chance US LLPFirst-year base $255,000+Band 2 · Capital Markets: Securitization: CLOs; Band 2 · Capital Markets: Securitization: RMBS
  31. 31.Katten Muchin Rosenman LLPFirst-year base $235,000+Band 2 · Capital Markets: Securitization: ABS; Band 2 · Capital Markets: Securitization: RMBS
  32. 32.Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLPFirst-year base $225,000+Band 2 · Capital Markets: Structured Products; Band 3 · Capital Markets: Investment Grade Debt: Issuer Counsel
  33. 33.Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C.First-year base $225,000+Band 2 · Capital Markets: Convertible Debt; Band 3 · Capital Markets: Equity: Issuer Counsel
  34. 34.McDermott Will & Schulte LLPFirst-year base $255,000+Band 2 · Capital Markets: Securitization: CLOs; Band 3 · Capital Markets: Securitization: ABS
  35. 35.Fenwick & West LLPFirst-year base $225,000+Band 2 · Capital Markets: Convertible Debt; Band 3 · Capital Markets: Equity: Issuer Counsel
  36. 36.Covington & Burling LLPFirst-year base $225,000Band 2 · Securities: Regulation: Advisory; Band 4 · Capital Markets: Equity: Issuer Counsel
  37. 37.Nixon Peabody LLPFirst-year base $210,000Band 2 · Capital Markets: Securitization: Trustee Counsel
  38. 38.A&O Shearman LLPFirst-year base $225,000+Band 3 · Capital Markets: Equity: Manager Counsel; Band 3 · Capital Markets: Investment Grade Debt: Issuer Counsel
  39. 39.Debevoise & Plimpton LLPFirst-year base $225,000+Band 3 · Capital Markets: Equity: Issuer Counsel; Band 3 · Securities: Regulation: Advisory
  40. 40.DLA Piper LLP (US)First-year base $225,000+Band 3 · Capital Markets: Securitization: ABS; Band 3 · Capital Markets: Securitization: CLOs
  41. 41.Vinson & Elkins LLPFirst-year base $225,000+Band 3 · Capital Markets: Equity: Issuer Counsel; Band 4 · Capital Markets: Equity: Manager Counsel
  42. 42.Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLPFirst-year base $225,000+Band 3 · Capital Markets: Securitization: ABS
  43. 43.Proskauer Rose LLPFirst-year base $225,000+Band 3 · Capital Markets: Securitization: CLOs
  44. 44.Jones DayFirst-year base $240,000Band 4 · Capital Markets: High-Yield Debt; Band 4 · Capital Markets: Investment Grade Debt: Issuer Counsel
  45. 45.Morrison & Foerster LLPFirst-year base $225,000+Band 4 · Capital Markets: Equity: Issuer Counsel
  46. 46.Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLPFirst-year base $225,000Band 4 · Capital Markets: Investment Grade Debt: Issuer Counsel

Is capital markets a fit?

Who tends to thrive

  • Careful writers who like disclosure and accuracy
  • People who enjoy finance and market timing
  • Those who like defined processes with hard deadlines

What a 1L can do this year

  • Take Securities Regulation when eligible
  • Read an IPO prospectus's risk factors and summary to see the writing
  • Follow IPO and bond market news for a month
Not sure this practice fits? Take the quiz Filter the directory by capital markets

Other practices