The 2024 Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation

We are incredibly proud on this particular morning to write about the future leaders of the law – The 2024 Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation. To cast our eye to the future and the amazing promise it holds as a generation of legal elders cede the stage.

The lawyers featured here are, for the first time, global, reflecting our fervent belief that is the future of law. They also look and sound anew – with eyes turned toward the future and an undiminished belief in the opportunity each of them has to make an impact in their chosen field of expertise.

They represent more than 200 law firms, each stronger for the talent, the vision, the hope these lawyers bring. Their narratives are a look at what’s next more so than well-worn war stories of battles won, and lost, and ground previously gained.

They’ll have their own tales to tell in the decades to come.

Among the firms represented are two – Cravath and Cadwalader – with more than 200 years of history apiece. The honorees from both those firms represent every lawyer recognized here, carrying forward in their late 20s and 30s the accomplishments of generations of lawyers past, infusing fresh thought, ideas and relevance.

This is the second year we have published this guide. And it’s fair to say it has become Lawdragon’s own moonshot. What started as our hope to shine a light on the future of the legal profession has turned into our own inspiration. The opportunity to research thousands of lawyers considered for this guide – through hundreds of nominations, independent research and peer recommendation – is to go back to your first baseball game, the first time you jumped into a swimming pool. Pick your own favorite summer memory. It’s an opportunity to reclaim the ability to be inspired, dazzled and refreshed. To feel the shock of joy unbound.

Our essential process for picking this list follows our time-honed tradition and is, candidly, developing its own contours as we work with firms to understand their vision of the lawyers rapidly ascending to define their own new day. This guide is 46 percent female and 23 percent inclusive.

We are very grateful for all the legal professionals who submit nominations and help us create what we hope is an unsurpassed and fresh take on excellence in the law.