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Associates Survey: National Rankings

At the core of our annual job satisfaction survey of midlevel associates are nine questions. They relate to treatment by partners, interest level of work, training and guidance, atmosphere, management openness, partnership chances, emphasis on billables, attitude toward pro bono work and satisfaction with compensation. In the survey, we asked midlevels to grade their firms in those areas on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest score. On this chart, all 132 firms that qualified for this year's survey are ranked according to their overall averages on those questions. To calculate this score, we included responses from all of a firm's offices; the city listed after each firm's name is its headquarters city. Firms designated as "national" have no more than 45 percent of their lawyers in any single region of the U.S. Firms designated as "international" have at least 40 percent of their lawyers outside the home country.

2002 Rank 2001 Rank Firm Location Overall Score
1 3 Alston & Bird Atlanta 4.33
2 6 Goulston & Storrs Boston 4.19
3 - Susman Godfrey Los Angeles 4.17
3 11 Troutman Sanders Atlanta 4.17
5 2 Carlton Fields Tampa 4.16
6 14 Faegre & Benson Minneapolis 4.15
7 6 Davis Wright Tremaine Seattle 4.14
8 21 Leonard, Street and Deinard Minneapolis 4.09
9 38 Debevoise & Plimpton New York 4.07
10 156 Irell & Manella Los Angeles 4.06
11 22 Haynes and Boone Dallas 4.05
12 113 Hogan & Hartson Washington, D.C. 4.04
13 81 Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi Minneapolis 4.03
14 10 Hale and Dorr Boston 4.02
15 22 Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich Palo Alto 4.00
15 63 Sutherland Asbill & Brennan Atlanta 4.00
17 59 Arnall Golden Gregory Atlanta 3.98
18 122 Porter, Wright, Morris & Arthur Columbus 3.97
18 33 Wolf, Block, Schorr and Solis-Cohen Philadelphia 3.97
20 45 Latham & Watkins National 3.96
20 113 Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal Chicago 3.96
22 118 Allen & Overy International (U.K.) 3.95
23 - Venable Baetjer and Howard Baltimore 3.94
23 76 Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon Chicago 3.94
25 4 Baker & Daniels Indianapolis 3.93
25 58 Palmer & Dodge Boston 3.93
25 40 Winstead Sechrest & Minick Dallas 3.93
28 - Bracewell & Patterson Houston 3.92
28 - Crowell & Moring Washington, D.C. 3.92
30 1 Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault Boston 3.91
31 - Fish & Richardson National 3.90
31 50 Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler New York 3.90
33 106 Michael Best & Friedrich Milwaukee 3.89
34 31 Stoel Rives Portland, Oregon 3.88
35 134 Baker & Hostetler Cleveland 3.87
36 - Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young Philadelphia 3.86
37 12 Arnold & Porter Washington, D.C. 3.85
37 33 Lewis and Roca Phoenix 3.85
37 - Powell, Goldstein, Frazer & Murphy Atlanta 3.85
37 22 Saul Ewing Philadelphia 3.85
41 46 Dykema Gossett Detroit 3.84
41 27 Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease Columbus 3.84
43 40 Andrews & Kurth Houston 3.83
43 143 Blank Rome Comisky & McCauley Philadelphia 3.83
43 59 Sidley Austin Brown & Wood National 3.83
46 122 Bingham McCutchen* Boston 3.82
47 53 Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow Garrett & Dunner Washington, D.C. 3.80
47 46 Kirkland & Ellis Chicago 3.80
49 14 Shook, Hardy & Bacon Kansas City, Missouri 3.79
50 56 Baker Botts Houston 3.76
51 106 McGuireWoods Richmond 3.75
52 132 Altheimer & Gray Chicago 3.74
52 101 Covington & Burling Washington, D.C. 3.74
52 163 Katten Muchin Zavis National 3.74
55 40 Davis Polk & Wardwell New York 3.73
55 63 Drinker Biddle & Reath Philadelphia 3.73
55 72 Jenner & Block Chicago 3.73
58 72 Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering Washington, D.C. 3.72
59 14 Dorsey & Whitney Minneapolis 3.69
59 162 Greenberg Traurig National 3.69
59 4 Schiff Hardin & Waite Chicago 3.69
62 27 Foley, Hoag & Eliot Boston 3.68
62 136 Winston & Strawn Chicago 3.68
64 - Hill & Barlow, P.C. Boston 3.66
64 104 Miles & Stockbridge Baltimore 3.66
64 101 Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe San Francisco 3.66
67 126 King & Spalding Atlanta 3.65
68 53 Dickstein Shapiro Morin & Oshinsky Washington, D.C. 3.64
69 118 Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton Los Angeles 3.62
69 92 Steptoe & Johnson Washington, D.C. 3.62
71 76 Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher Los Angeles 3.61
72 136 Nutter, McClennen & Fish Boston 3.58
73 86 Bryan Cave St. Louis 3.57
74 172 Chadbourne & Parke New York 3.56
74 104 Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel New York 3.56
74 29 Quarles & Brady Milwaukee 3.56
74 151 Weil, Gotshal & Manges New York 3.56
78 158 Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton New York 3.55
78 63 Cozen O'Connor Philadelphia 3.55
78 76 Duane Morris Philadelphia 3.55
78 151 Edwards & Angell Providence 3.55
82 100 Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz New York 3.54
83 136 Cummings & Lockwood Stamford, Connecticut 3.53
83 - Willkie Farr & Gallagher New York 3.53
85 46 Foley & Lardner Milwaukee 3.52
85 131 Howrey Simon Arnold & White Washington, D.C. 3.52
87 109 Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis Philadelphia 3.51
88 113 Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue National 3.50
88 72 Lowenstein Sandler Roseland, New Jersey 3.50
88 173 McDermott, Will & Emery National 3.50
88 147 Stroock & Stroock & Lavan New York 3.50
92 59 Williams & Connolly Washington, D.C. 3.49
93 - Hunton & Williams Richmond 3.48
93 151 Proskauer Rose New York 3.48
93 120 Schulte Roth & Zabel New York 3.48
96 176 Cahill Gordon & Reindel New York 3.46
96 81 Fox, Rothschild, O'Brien & Frankel Philadelphia 3.46
96 130 Kelley Drye & Warren New York 3.46
99 33 Cooley Godward Palo Alto 3.45
99 126 Ross & Hardies Chicago 3.45
101 92 Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson New York 3.44
102 86 Dewey Ballantine New York 3.43
102 126 Kirkpatrick & Lockhart National 3.43
102 113 Reed Smith Pittsburgh 3.43
105 143 Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw Chicago 3.41
106 69 Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison New York 3.40
106 86 Ropes & Gray Boston 3.40
108 120 Day, Berry & Howard Hartford 3.39
108 147 Pepper Hamilton Philadelphia 3.39
110 13 Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe San Francisco 3.38
111 81 Locke Liddell & Sapp Dallas/Houston 3.37
112 159 Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft New York 3.36
112 59 Chapman and Cutler Chicago 3.36
112 132 Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati San Francisco/Palo Alto 3.36
115 166 Cravath, Swaine & Moore New York 3.35
115 165 O'Melveny & Myers Los Angeles 3.35
115 159 Sullivan & Cromwell New York 3.35
118 109 Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom New York 3.33
119 46 Buchanan Ingersoll Pittsburgh 3.32
120 76 Piper Rudnick National 3.31
121 125 Morgan, Lewis & Bockius National 3.28
121 112 Shearman & Sterling New York 3.28
123 - LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae National 3.22
124 177 Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner New York 3.21
125 168 White & Case International (U.S.) 3.19
126 143 Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker National 3.17
126 170 Pennie & Edmonds New York 3.17
128 171 Dechert National 3.16
128 96 Fulbright & Jaworski Houston 3.16
130 122 Pillsbury Winthrop San Francisco 3.03
131 167 Fish & Neave New York 2.87
132 175 Clifford Chance Rogers & Wells International (U.K.) 2.74
(The American Lawyer, October 2002)
* The survey was conducted just prior to Bingham Dana's July 1 merger with McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen. Only Bingham Dana midlevels participated.
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