Big Law

Paramount’s Legal Musical Chairs Sees BigLaw Partner Cash In on His Own Deal

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Well, well, well . . nothing says “strategic legal planning” quite like hiring the very lawyer who helped broker your multibillion-dollar acquisition to then become your top legal talent. Makan Delrahim has officially traded his Latham & Watkins partnership for the corner office at Paramount Skydance Corporation, stepping into the CLO role on October 6th […]

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K&L Gates Shuts Down Beijing Office Amid Ongoing U.S. Legal Exodus from China

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big law firms leave china

In a continuation of the U.S. legal industry’s strategic pullback from mainland China, K&L Gates has officially shuttered its Beijing office, according to a Reuters report. The firm, which had maintained a presence in the Chinese capital for nearly two decades, confirmed the closure in response to mounting operational challenges and a recalibrated global strategy.

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Sheppard Mullin Recruit Major Team From Ropes & Gray, Lead By Former Ropes Chair

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The chair of Ropes & Gray’s IP litigation practice has moved to Sheppard Mullin with a 20-lawyer team from his former chair, taking four partneres and 16 counsel and associates. The lawyers include lawyers from  Sheppard Mullin’s Manhattan, Silicon Valley, Washington DC and Seoul offices.  Sheppard Mullin has worked to increase its IP law firm,

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Why Data Scientists Are Key to the Future of Law Firms

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big law is recruiting data science experts to help with AI tools and efficiences - LawFuel

How Data Science Is Rewriting Big Law Playbooks Tom Borman, LawFuel contributing editor When Cleary Gottlieb snapped up Springbok AI earlier this year it signalled something big: law firms are no longer just buying technology, they’re building it too. AI in law is big business. That transaction brought ten data scientists into Cleary’s fold and

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Bill Less, Win More – How Clients Now Demand GenAI From BigLaw

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Tom Borman, LawFuel contributing editor The days of “AI curiosity” in law firms are over. According to Bloomberg Law, general counsel are now pressuring outside counsel to prove they’re using generative AI to cut costs and improve turnaround — or risk losing the mandate altogether. Corporate legal departments are no longer satisfied with glossy innovation

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Orrick Snatches Cadwalader’s Eight-Partner Finance Team

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Orrick has staged a raid worthy of Wall Street, swiping an eight-partner finance team from Cadwalader—four in London, four in the US—just as CLOs and private credit are reshaping global markets, Global Legal Post reports. The London Line-Up Leading the London contingent is David Quirolo, (pictured) flanked by Claire Puddicombe, Daniel Tobias and Alexander Collins.

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Google’s $425 Million Trial Loss And Cooley’s Surprise Starring Role

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The Lawyers Who Took Google’s Billing Bonanza Tom Borman, LawFuel contributing editor Google has been whacked with a $425 million jury verdict in a class-action privacy trial in a case that centres on the company’s habit of harvesting user data even after people switched off supposedly protective settings. It’s the corporate version of saying “don’t

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A&O Shearman’s First Results: Big, Loud, and Not Quite Magic Circle Royalty

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A&O Shearman has unveiled its first set of financials since creating the world’s largest Anglo-American law firm — and for a stitched-together giant still working out how to share the same stationery, the numbers are healthy and partner pay too.

Revenue hit £2.9 billion (US$3.7 billion) with pretax profit of £1.1 billion (US$1.4 billion). Average profit per equity partner landed at £2 million (US$2.6 million)

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Kirkland & Ellis Joins Four-Day Office Week Party (Reluctantly)

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The 4 Day Hard-Work Week Trend Sees Kirkland & Ellis Join Up Norma Harris, LawFuel contributing editor Kirkland & Ellis, the behemoth that rakes in close to US$8.8 billion and dumps US$9.25 million per equity partner into their bonus pools has decided zuckt nicht and is trying a four‑day in‑office week in London. The firm that has juniors

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Burford Capital Isn’t Just Financing Suits Anymore; It’s Trying to Own the Firm Too

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Burford Capital the litigation finance behemoth wants not just to bankroll lawsuits but to buy stakes in actual U.S. law firms. The move isn’t your garden-variety PE play; it’s a direct challenge to the profession’s no-capital-external-to-the-firm orthodoxy.

Burford, under the ever-quotable Jonathan Molot, (pictured above) told the Financial Times he is floating a structure ripped from healthcare and accounting playbooks: split a law firm into two entities, a lawyer-owned practice handling client work, and a Managed Service Organization (MSO) holding assets and providing back‑office muscle in exchange for a cut. It’s a classic “external capital without violating ethics rules.”

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