Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, and Flom

Vault 5: Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, and Flom LLP (Overall)

Raw Numbers:

1) Harvard Law School (21)

2) Columbia Law School (14)

3) University of Chicago Law School (13)

4) University of Michigan Law School (10)

5) Berkeley Law School (8)

5) University of Pennsylvania Law School (8)

5) Georgetown University Law Center (8)

8) New York University Law School (7)

9) University of Virginia Law School (6)

10) Northwestern University Law School (5)

11) Duke Law School (4)

12) Yale Law School (3)

13) Stanford Law School (1)

14) Cornell Law School (0)

Percentages:

1) University of Chicago Law School (6.5%)

2) Harvard Law School (3.8%)

3) Columbia Law School (3.7%)

4) University of Pennsylvania Law School (3.2%)

4) Berkeley Law (3.2%)

6) University of Michigan Law School (2.7%)

7) Northwestern University Kaw School (2%)

7) Duke Law School (2%)

9) University of Virginia Law School (1.6%)

9) NYU Law School (1.6%)

11) Yale Law School (1.5%)

12) Georgetown University Law Center (1.4%)

13) Stanford Law School (0.5%)

14) Cornell Law School (0%)

Conclusions:

1) I only suggest using this chart for rough approximations. This doesn't show the number of offers given (though who would want to turn down Skadden?). However, the more offers a school is given, the higher the chances that more students will be at that firm.

2) Given (1), Chicago appears to be the indisputable king at Skadden placement. Cornell did dreadfully for the class of 2007. This is not to say that Chicago is "better" for law school if you eventually want to work at Skadden. Everything comes down to the individual student. However, the big picture here is pretty interesting. Academic powerhouses such as Stanford and Yale ended up toward the bottom, which is unsurprising. Aside from them, it's interesting how the ranking approximates USNews pretty well. Berkeley is a pleasant surprise from the west; the school is typically underrated for BigLaw. However, I wouldn't be so quick to conclude anything just yet. Berkeley's biggest showings came from the west coast offices; I'm not sure how many other V5 firms have so many west coast offices, but things could change drastically when that ranking is released. I think one can be pretty certain that Chicago, Columbia, and Harvard will remain on top, though.