Here are three rankings of top firms, all published this month.  Any ideas on which is what?

Ranking A	Firm	Ranking B	Firm	Ranking C	Firm
1	Wachtell	1	Cravath	1	Wachtel
2	Cahill Gordon	2	Wachtel	2	Cravath
3	Sullivan & Cromwell	3	Sullivan & Cromwell	3	Sullivan & Cromwell
4	Simpson Thacher	4	Davis Polk	4	Skadden
5	Cravath	5	Skadden	5	Davis Polk
6	Paul, Weiss	6	Simpson Thacher	6	Simpson Thacher
7	Cadwalader	7	Williams & Connolly	7	Cleary Gottlieb
8	Davis Polk	8	Cleary Gottlieb	8	Latham & Watkins
9	Kirkland & Ellis	9	Latham & Watkins	9	Weil Gotshal
10	Milbank, Tweed	10	Weil Gotshal	10	Covington & Burling
		11	Shearman & Sterling	11	Kirkland & Ellis
		12	Paul, Weiss	12	Shearman & Sterling
		13	Covington & Burling	13	Paul, Weiss
		14	Wilmer Cutler	14	Debevoise
		15	Kirkland & Ellis	15	Sidley Austin

I'll be merciful:  "A" is profits per partner, courtesy of the AmLaw 100; "B" is Vault's annual "prestige" rundown, as ranked by partners; and "C" is Vault's prestige tally as ranked by associates.   Now, the sizable overlap/identity between "B" and "C" is no surprise; if associates don't entirely get their opinions about things like this from partners, that is surely their primary source.

The newsworthy item to me is how PPP correlates with perceived prestige:  7 of the 10 firms with the highest PPP also figure in the top 15 most prestigious in the view of both partners and associates.  The three exceptions?  Well, I would argue they're truly exceptions:

• Cahill Gordon has always followed its own muse, and thumbed its nose at convention with the certainty and finality that their internal performance is all they need to care about.  (Their website, almost shockingly simple and quaint, caveats in a fashion both prissy and inarguable, that it "is primarily intended for use by law school students considering a career at our firm.")
• Milbank and Cadwalader, on the other hand, while Household Names in anyone's book, are strongly on the comeback from some years in the wilderness, and perception may not yet have caught up to reality.

Overall, a triumph of the marketplace.