WilmerHale achieved its highest position ever on The American Lawyer’s “A-List” of 20 major law firms, narrowly missing first place in one of the legal industry’s most widely watched rankings.

In announcing its 2018 A-List and WilmerHale’s second place ranking, The American Lawyer said: “Coming in a close second is Wilmer, which climbed two spots up the rankings from last year. The firm’s scores increased in almost every category, with a 13-point rise in associate satisfaction and a 9.5-point bump in diversity.”

Before this year, 2017’s fourth-place ranking was the highest the firm had reached in the A-List’s 16-year history.

The American Lawyer says its A-List is meant to spotlight the law firms that are all-around standard bearers for the industry: “Since its inception, the A-List has recognized firms based on a combination of factors, both financial and cultural: revenue per lawyer, pro bono commitment, associate satisfaction and racial diversity, with RPL and pro bono given double weight. And now, for the second year in a row, we also include a score for gender diversity—more specifically, the percentage of women equity partners.”