Ben Thomson

DLA Piper Makes A Big Bet By Ditching the Verein for a New Global Structure

Big Law, Headlining, US Law /
Severs

Updated 16 March with clarification on the DLAPiper profit pool arrangements following the restructuring.For years, the Swiss verein has been BigLaw’s favourite legal fiction as a neat way for sprawling global firms to present as “one firm” while keeping the money, liabilities and politics carefully ring‑fenced by region. Now DLA Piper, is preparing to call

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Big Law’s Trump Reprieve Lasts Less Than 24 Hours — The U-Turn That Changed Everything

Big Law, Headlining, US Law /
Biglaw chess

It has been a year — twelve months of watching the most powerful law firms on the planet twist in the wind at the pleasure of a sitting president. And just when it looked like the drama had finally resolved itself, Washington reminded everyone that in this administration, nothing is ever quite over.

On Monday, the Trump administration quietly announced it was abandoning its executive orders against Jenner & Block, Perkins Coie, WilmerHale, and Susman Godfrey — four firms that had the nerve, and the litigation chops, to fight back. All four had beaten the orders in the lower courts.

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Personal Injury Law Powerhouses – The Overlooked Business Geniuses Crushing Big Law

Headlining, Law Firms /
Property deal

Snobbery alert: while Big Law partners chase prestige, lockstep compensation, and sky-high billable-hour targets, those flashy “billboard lawyers” at personal injury firms like Morgan & Morgan are quietly running the smartest, most scalable legal businesses in America. And the data proves it.

Morgan & Morgan isn’t just big (as LawFuel has previously reported) it’s the largest personal injury firm in the country, with over 1,000 attorneys (ranking 42nd overall on the 2025 NLJ 500 and 34th on the Law360 400), offices in every state, and more than $30 billion recovered for 700,000+ clients.

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Lawyers Just Jacked Their Hourly Billing Rates to $3,400 — and Clients Are Saying “Thanks, That’ll Do Nicely”

Briefings, Law Firm Management, Law Firms, US Law /
Luxurious law office

You know that moment when a client looks at a bill and just… nods? Christopher Clark, a litigator at a boutique law firm, got one of those last year, the WSJ reported. He’d hiked his rate to a once-absurd $3,000 an hour. The client’s reply? “Congratulations. That’s the highest we’ve seen.”

A year earlier, $2,500 felt like the ceiling. Now it looks almost cute.

According to Persuit’s latest billing data, senior partners at the biggest 50 firms pushed rates up an average 16% in 2025. Some are now openly quoting $3,400 an hour. And that’s before you get to the real outliers.

In bankruptcy filings, Latham & Watkins and Kirkland & Ellis have partners clearing the $3,000 mark this year. Reuters reported in January that Susman Godfrey’s Bill Carmody and Neal Manne quietly set their 2026 rack rate at $4,000 an hour — up from $3,000 last year. (Lawfuel broke the same story and called it “Four Thousand an Hour Arrives in US Big Law Billing.”)

Lawyers Just Jacked Their Hourly Billing Rates to $3,400 — and Clients Are Saying “Thanks, That’ll Do Nicely” Read More »

Meet Scott Barshay – Paul Weiss’s New Chairman and Wall Street’s Most Prolific M&A Lawyer

Big Law, Headlining, LawStars /
Barshay scott web

From Cravath Star to Paul Weiss ChairBen Thomson, LawFuel contributing writerIn one of the most dramatic leadership transitions in Big Law history, Scott Barshay has been appointed Chairman of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, effective immediately, following Brad Karp’s decision to resign as Chairman. The sudden change, announced February 4, 2026, marks the

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Why Was Jeffrey Epstein Trying to Get BigLaw’s Brad Karp Into Augusta National?

Headlining, Law Firms, Lawyers /
Golf1

The Augusta Connection: Why Did Jeffrey Epstein Want to Get Brad Karp Into America’s Most Exclusive Golf Club?When a convicted sex offender tries to work “magic” to get you into Augusta National, maybe ask yourself what you’re paying for that membership with. For Paul Weiss Chairman Brad Karp that is a question worth asking.Ben Thomson

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Brabners’ Eight-Year Growth Streak Powers London Expansion: What Regional Firms Can Learn

Headlining, Law Firms, LawPreneur /
Nik White Brabners - LawFuel

While London’s legal market dominates headlines with US firms driving salary wars and Magic Circle mergers, Brabners’ consistent growth story offers a compelling counter-narrative.

The firm’s eight consecutive years of profitable expansion demonstrates that sustainable growth doesn’t require a City postcode—it requires strategic vision, client focus, and calculated expansion timing. And leadership from people like managing partner Nik White (Pictured), who the firm described as the ‘driving force’ behind its growth.

At a time when UK law firms collectively generated £37 billion in revenue, with more than half posting double-digit increases, Brabners’ measured approach to London expansion represents a textbook case of regional strength leveraging metropolitan opportunity.
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What is the largest personal injury law firm in America?

Best Firms, Briefings, Law Firms, Lawyers /
biggest personal injury law firms in america

Ben Thomson, LawFuel contributing writerMorgan & Morgan is the law firm that is widely seen as the largest personal injury law firm in the United States. The firm has over 1,000 attorneys according to its own data and 30‑plus billion dollars in verdicts and settlements for more than 700,000 clients nationwide.For more information about the

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When One Firm Folds, Another Feeds – Womble’s 36-Lawyer Power Move

Featured, Law Firms, US Law /
legal tech

International firm Womble Bond Dickinson has quietly pulled off a very modern piece of legal jiu-jitsu: turning another firm’s collapse into a strategic growth play.

The firm has absorbed 19 lawyers and 17 regulatory and licensing specialists from McGlinchey Stafford, the US mid-market firm that voted earlier this year to dissolve.

The intake brings 36 professionals into Womble in one sweep and sharply deepens its bench in consumer financial services, one of the most regulator-intensive practice areas in modern law.

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The Largest UK Law Firms 2026 – Who’s Banking What in Big Law

Best Firms, Big Law, Headlining, UK Law /
lawfuel - largest uk law firm report

The UK legal market just keeps getting bigger and richer as deals and US law firms make a major impact on big UK law firms. In 2025, collective revenues for UK law firms sailed past £52 billion, with the big firms at the top hoovering up an ever-larger slice of the pie.
The UK law firm earnings show massive increases for some firms and equally large take-home pay, as we recently reported.
Whether you’re a graduate eyeing that training contract or a GC shopping for counsel, LawFuel’s UK law firm survey looks at who’s who in British Big Law right now.
The Complete UK Law Firm Revenue League 2026 . .
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