More on LawFuel
- Brad Karp’s Paul Weiss Exit – When ‘Once in a Lifetime’ Evenings Come Back to Haunt You
Brad Karp’s 18-year reign atop Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison ended Wednesday night not with a bang, but with a carefully worded statement about “distractions.” Translation: the Justice Department’s release of millions of Epstein-related documents last week made his position untenable faster than you can say “conflict of interest.” The emails paint a picture that’s more uncomfortable than a BigLaw associate’s billable hours target. In July 2015, Karp thanked Epstein for “an evening I’ll never forget,” describing it as “truly ‘once in a lifetime’ in every way, though I hope to be invited again.” Epstein’s response? A promise of “many many nights of unique talents” and assurances Karp would “be invited often.” Spoiler alert: those invitations are now exhibit A in why being Chair of a white-shoe law firm and socialising with convicted sex offenders don’t mix well. - Anthropic’s Legal AI Plugin Triggers ‘SaaSpocalypse’ — $50B Wiped from Legal Tech Stocks
Anthropic’s Legal AI Plugin Exposes the Vulnerability of the Legal Tech Emperor’s Wardrobe The legal software establishment… Read more: Anthropic’s Legal AI Plugin Triggers ‘SaaSpocalypse’ — $50B Wiped from Legal Tech Stocks - Legal AI’s First Reality Check: What the Claude Shock Means for Law Firms
AI-driven software stocks have slumped as investors suddenly re-price the risks and disruption posed by legal-focused models like Anthropic’s Claude. But for law firms, this is a reset, not a retreat, in the legal AI market. The money is shifting from “AI at any price” to “AI that can survive the coming copyright and compliance storm”—and that is clearly where serious firms should now be focusing. What Actually Happened in Markets The numbers are staggering. On 3 February 2026, a Goldman Sachs basket of US software stocks sank 6% in a single session—its biggest one-day decline since April’s tariff-fueled selloff. A parallel index of financial services firms tumbled almost 7%. The Nasdaq 100 Index fell as much as 2.4%. The trigger? Anthropic released new AI automation capabilities targeting legal, sales, marketing, and data analytics—sectors previously thought insulated from AI disruption. The carnage was immediate and global: - Why Was Jeffrey Epstein Trying to Get BigLaw’s Brad Karp Into Augusta National?
The Augusta Connection: Why Did Jeffrey Epstein Want to Get Brad Karp Into America’s Most Exclusive Golf… Read more: Why Was Jeffrey Epstein Trying to Get BigLaw’s Brad Karp Into Augusta National? - BigLaw Pay – Taylor Wessing’s Top Rainmaker Banks the Legal Equivalent of a Premier League Salary
Taylor Wessing’s highest-earning partner managed to haul in a whopping £200,000 a week in the latest financial year — that’s roughly the same as a Premier League striker on a good bonus season. It highlights just how ludicrous top-end pay has become in London’s legal market. According to Law Society Gazette, the top-paid LLP member at Taylor Wessing managed to net that £200k-a-week haul as profits were dished out across the partnership. That kind of pay packet makes even the notorious Cravath scale seem almost modest. Sure, mid-market firms can cry “but we’re all about work-life balance,” but when your top partner’s annual take amounts to north of £10m, it’s hard not to feel the sting of disparity.
