The 2022 40 Under 40 Honorees—By the Numbers

In this companion piece to our 2022 special report, “They’ve Got Next: The 40 Under 40,” we take a look at the practice areas that were most popular for this year’s honorees, the law schools they represent, and where they’re based around the country. And just for fun, we also highlight the top songs on on their summer playlists. Want to know more? Read on.

Top Law Schools and Practice Areas

For the second year, the law school with the highest representation for our 40 Under 40 honoree class is Harvard Law School. There are eight honorees who are alumni for 2022. (That’s up slightly from seven in 2021.)

This year, Georgetown University Law Center takes the second spot for most-represented law schools, producing four of our 2022 honorees and doubling its 2021 count.

For the third spot, USC Gould School of Law makes its debut on our most represented law school list this year, with three honorees.

To round out our list of most-represented law schools, we have a four-way tie for fourth. Columbia Law School, Howard University School of Law, New York University School of Law, and New York Law School each have two honorees in this year’s class. Two of these law schools, Howard and NYLS, also make their debut on our 40 Under 40 list this year.

The most popular law schools and practice areas for our 2022 honorees.

Jonathan Hurtarte / Bloomberg Law

In 2022, litigation and mergers & acquisitions are the most represented practice areas with seven honorees each. (These practice areas also topped the list in 2021.) Those areas are followed by antitrust in third place (five honorees), intellectual property in fourth (four honorees) and real estate and securities tied for fifth (three honorees each).

Our Honorees Do More Than Bill Hours. What’s On Their Summer Playlists?

As a fun question, we asked our 2022 honorees their favorite songs on their summer playlists. This year, Lizzo reigns supreme, scoring the most popular song. The artist’s summer anthem “About Damn Time” was mentioned three times, and the artist scores a total of four mentions. (Compare that with last year’s tally, when Taylor Swift and Marvin Gaye tied for top mentions.)

CoComelon, responsible for versions of the kid favorite “Wheels on the Bus” and other kid friendly tunes, ties Lizzo for the artist mentioned most with four references. (A hat tip to all the parents who turn over their playlists to their young children! We salute you.)

Beyoncé is noted three times, with her newest single “Break My Soul” referenced twice. And the Disney soundtrack for “Encanto” also scores three mentions, each referencing different songs. One favorite from that film that all of our young lawyer honorees can probably relate to? “Surface Pressure.” Note: You can listen to our 40 Under 40 playlist on Spotify. See details below.

Our 2022 honorees share their favorite songs from their summer playlists.

Jonathan Hurtarte / Bloomberg Law

Geographically Diverse Honorees

In 2022, many of our honorees come from top legal markets — 25 honorees, or 63% of this year’s class, base their practices in either New York or Washington, D.C. But a good chunk of our honorees, about 37%, hail from outside of the Beltway and the Big Apple. Fifteen honorees are based in other major areas for legal talent that include: Los Angeles; Houston; Chicago; Philadelphia; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; and Jackson, Mississippi. The takeaway? Stellar young lawyers making a difference in their firms and communities can indeed be found everywhere.

Here’s a look at where our 2022 honorees are based.

Jonathan Hurtarte / Bloomberg Law

Acknowledgments From the Editor
In a final note on the numbers, I’d like to thank our Bloomberg Law news team of 25 editors and graphic designers who contributed to the 2022 edition of our now annual special report. A big thank you to Kibby Araya, whose contributions were key to our success. Gratitude also goes to the editors and reporters who diligently reviewed nominee submissions: Cesca Antonelli, Paul Albergo, Jo-el Meyer, Bernie Kohn, Heather Rothman, Tom Taylor, Rachael Daigle, Kelly Phillips Erb, Martha Mueller Neff, Jay-Anne Casuga, Seth Stern, Carmen Castro-Pagan, Patrick Gregory, Rebecca Baker, Brent Bierman, Roger Yu, Laura Francis, Rob Tricchinelli, Mike Ferullo, and Darren Bowman. Thanks to Molly Ward, David McCombs, Rachel Hunt and teams for spearheading our social media efforts. And a final hat tip goes to our graphic designers: Jonathan Hurtarte and Bloomberg Industry Group alum, Nnaemeke Offodile, who created the art for this project. Thank you.

— Lisa Helem, executive editor, Bloomberg Law