As they share, this year’s 40 Under 40 class scored big by working hard and making the most of their opportunities. Their careers have also been shaped by forces—such as the people they’ve encountered along the way— in law school, in legal practice and in their communities.
Here, we do some number crunching to share the most represented law schools and practice areas for this year’s class. We also share where these young lawyers hail from. And just for fun, these young lawyers give us a peek into their lives outside of the office this summer, sharing the songs they’ve been jamming to with family and friends.
This is the 2025 They’ve Got Next: The 40 Under 40 class, by the numbers.
Most Popular Law Schools
This year, Yale beats Harvard for the highest number of honorees, with six. Harvard Law School, which led 40 Under 40 numbers from 2021-2024, posts three honorees this year in a three-way tie with New York University School of Law and Georgetown University Law Center, which each posted the same number.
Next, five law schools tie for the third-place spot with two honorees each: University of Michigan Law School; University of California, Berkeley; University of Virginia; Columbia Law School, and University of Chicago Law School.
Another 15 of our 2025 honorees hail from a diversity of law schools with one honoree each, including The University of Texas School of Law, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, American University Washington College of Law, University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law, Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law, and more. You can read more about all of them in our honoree Q&As.
Most Popular Practice Areas
Litigation tops our most represented practice areas for the fifth year, with nine honored for their work in this area in 2025. From 2021-2024, we honored a total of 31 young lawyers in this area.
This year, antitrust lands in second place, tying its biggest showing on the 40 Under 40, with five honorees. (This practice group last scored five honorees in 2022). Next up are intellectual property and M&A, which each had four honorees.
M&A has appeared in our top practice areas list each year of the 40 Under 40, with 23 honorees total from 2021-2024. IP has also landed in our top practice groups every year except 2024, with 15 total honorees from 2021-2024.
Our 2025 Honorees at a Glance
This year six law firms and one company make their first appearance on our honoree list. They include: A&O Shearman, Baker Botts, Blend Labs, Inc., Blank Rome, Bird Marella, MoloLamken, and Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson.
The median age of honorees this year is 39, the same as in 2024. Thirty eight honorees have the title partner. Two others are listed as general counsel and associate, respectively.
Our honorees hail from 11 metropolitan areas — including Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas and San Francisco. New York leads with the largest group of honorees with 16, followed by Washington, DC with 11.
Sounds of Summer
We asked our 2025 honorees to tell us their favorite songs of the summer. Taylor Swift was again the champion artist with six different songs mentioned: “Cruel Summer,” “Fearless,” “Love Story,” “Antihero,” “Shake It Off,” and “Cornelia Street.”
Chappell Roan came in at second, with four mentions for “Pink Pony Club” and one for dance-pop hit “Hot To Go.”
And Haim tied with Shaboozey for third place with two mentions each; Haim with the songs “Summer Girl” and “The Steps,” and Shaboozey with “Good News,” which was mentioned twice.
Listen to our 2025 40 Under 40 Spotify playlist here or by clicking on the image below.
With contributions from MP McQueen.
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