Cleary Gottlieb

Short answer — for U.S./global corporate work, the safest “top brand” shortlist is: Wachtell, Cravath, Skadden, Sullivan & Cromwell, Davis Polk, Simpson Thacher, Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, Paul Weiss, and Cleary Gottlieb. If your matter is startup/VC, add Cooley, Wilson Sonsini, Gunderson Dettmer, Fenwick, and Goodwin.

Best overall corporate-law “brands”

These are the firms I’d put on an initial RFP list for high-stakes M&A, public-company work, securities, governance, or private equity:

My practical top 10 if you just want the “best brands people actually use”

1. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz — elite for boardroom M&A, takeover defense, activism, and high-stakes public-company matters.
2. Cravath, Swaine & Moore — blue-chip public-company corporate practice; consistently top prestige brand.
3. Skadden — huge M&A brand with broad public-company, governance, activism, and cross-border strength.
4. Kirkland & Ellis — dominant in private equity, M&A, restructuring, and sponsor-side corporate work.
5. Latham & Watkins — probably the best “one-stop” global corporate platform across M&A, finance, capital markets, PE, tech, energy, and regulatory.
6. Davis Polk & Wardwell — excellent for M&A, capital markets, financial institutions, and public-company work.
7. Sullivan & Cromwell — elite for M&A, governance, financial institutions, securities, and complex cross-border transactions.
8. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett — top-tier for private equity, M&A, banking, and capital markets.
9. Paul, Weiss — very strong in M&A, private equity, activism defense, and high-profile public-company work.
10. Cleary Gottlieb — excellent for cross-border M&A, antitrust-sensitive deals, and international capital markets.

Why these? Chambers’ 2026 nationwide Corporate/M&A: The Elite Band 1 list includes Cravath, Davis Polk, Kirkland, Latham, Paul Weiss, Simpson Thacher, and Skadden; its New York elite list also includes Sullivan & Cromwell and Wachtell. Legal 500’s U.S. 2026 M&A large deals Tier 1 includes Cleary, Cravath, Davis Polk, Kirkland, Latham, Paul Weiss, Simpson Thacher, Skadden, and Wachtell. (chambers.com)

If “actually used” means deal volume, not prestige

For raw market activity, some firms that clients use constantly may be slightly different from the prestige list. For 2025 U.S. M&A principal representations, an LSEG-based ranking listed Kirkland & Ellis, Cravath, Paul Weiss, Latham, Simpson Thacher, Wachtell, Skadden, Gibson Dunn, Cleary Gottlieb, and Sidley among the top legal advisers by deal value/volume. (xbma.org)

For global M&A deal volume, DLA Piper is a major “people actually use it” brand: it reported being ranked No. 1 in PitchBook’s 2025 Annual Global League Tables for global M&A deal count for the second consecutive year, and also ranked highly in private equity activity. (dlapiper.com)

For startups and venture capital, the “actually used” firms are often Gunderson Dettmer and Cooley. Gunderson reported being PitchBook’s most active VC law firm globally in the 2025 annual league tables, while Cooley reported being No. 1 for representing companies raising venture capital in the U.S. and globally. (gunder.com)

Best pick by your situation

• Fortune 500 board / $1B+ acquisition: Wachtell, Cravath, Skadden, Sullivan & Cromwell, Davis Polk.
• Private equity sponsor: Kirkland, Simpson Thacher, Latham, Ropes & Gray, Debevoise, Weil.
• IPO / debt offering / public securities: Davis Polk, Latham, Simpson Thacher, Sullivan & Cromwell, Skadden, Cahill. Legal 500’s 2026 capital-markets global offerings Tier 1 includes Davis Polk, Latham, and Simpson Thacher. (legal500.com)
• Startup financing / venture-backed company: Cooley, Wilson Sonsini, Gunderson, Fenwick, Goodwin.
• Middle-market company needing practical corporate counsel: DLA Piper, Goodwin, Cooley, Sidley, Jones Day, Hogan Lovells, Baker McKenzie, Holland & Knight.
• Global commercial contracts / multi-country operations: Latham, Baker McKenzie, DLA Piper, White & Case, Freshfields, A&O Shearman, Clifford Chance, Linklaters.

Important buying advice

Don’t hire only the logo. In corporate law, the specific partner/team matters more than the firm brand. Ask for:

1. 3–5 recent similar matters they handled.
2. Who will actually do the work — partner, counsel, senior associate, junior associate.
3. Fee structure — hourly, capped fee, success fee, or fixed fee by phase.
4. Conflicts check before sharing sensitive details.
5. Industry fit — tech, healthcare, financial services, energy, real estate, etc.

If you tell me your company size, industry, location, and matter type — e.g., “startup seed round,” “sell-side M&A,” “IPO,” “private equity acquisition,” or “general corporate counsel” — I can narrow this to the best 5 firms to contact.

If you mean top corporate law firms that are widely recognized and actively used by large clients, the strongest names in the market are the firms that repeatedly appear in major rankings such as Vault, Chambers, Best Law Firms, Legal 500, and Clutch. For broad corporate work, the most consistently cited “brand-name” firms include Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, Sullivan & Cromwell, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Cravath, Swaine & Moore, Latham & Watkins, Kirkland & Ellis, Cleary Gottlieb, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, and Baker McKenzie.

These firms are the closest thing to the “top products people actually use” in corporate law, because they are repeatedly selected for major M&A, financing, governance, securities, and cross-border corporate matters by large companies and are prominent in lawyer and client ranking systems.

If you want a more practical shortlist, I’d group them like this:

• Best all-around elite corporate firms: Sullivan & Cromwell, Skadden, Latham & Watkins, Cravath, Kirkland & Ellis.
• Best for M&A and board-level fights: Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; Skadden; Weil.
• Best for cross-border/global corporate work: Baker McKenzie; Cleary Gottlieb; Latham & Watkins.
• Best for private equity-heavy work: Kirkland & Ellis; Simpson Thacher; Latham & Watkins.

If you want, I can also give you:

• a top 10 by prestige
• a top 10 by client reviews
• or a best firm by use case like M&A, startup financing, private equity, or international expansion.