Ben Thomson

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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Britain’s Top Barristers by Pay – The KCs Who Turn Courtroom Skill into Seven Figures

Headlining, Lawyers, UK Law /
british barrister earnings

Since I wrote about Britain’s highest-paid barristers a year ago, the select group of the UK’s top barristers continues to expand, with fees commanded that rival top CEOs.

What we didn’t report on was the sort of money received by the elite UK barristers, apart from quoting the Legal Futures report from 2018 that 125 UK barristers earned over £1million all those years ago.

The UK’s highest-paid barristers are more than just courtroom stars. They are strategic advisors, thought leaders, and, increasingly, agents of change in a rapidly evolving legal market.

However there is little publicly available information aout barrister earnings.

With top hourly billing rates hitting £5000 an hour or more, a barrister billing 1500 hours a year (perfectly common for a top law partner) brings home £7.5m.

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3,100 Lawyers, One Story Get Big, Get Niche, or Get Bought

Big Law, Headlining, US Law /
Miguel Zaldivar - LawFuel

Cadwalader’s planned merger with Hogan Lovells is less a love story and more a rescue mission with excellent branding, creating a 3,100‑lawyer, US$3.6 billion outfit that will instantly sit in the global top five by revenue.

For Hogan Lovells, it is scale and New York depth; for Cadwalader, it is survival with dignity and a new logo.

The combined Hogan Lovells Cadwalader will have about 3,100 lawyers and more than US$3.6 billion in annual revenue based on 2024 figures, making it the world’s fifth‑largest firm by revenue and one of the largest law firm mergers ever attempted. – Register to read more . . .

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The Most Searched Top Lawyers and Law Firms of 2025

Featured, Headlining, Lawyers, US Law /

In 2025, high-profile trials, political firestorms, and blockbuster corporate battles didn’t just dominate courtrooms—they dominated Google, TikTok, and every search engine in between. From Alec Baldwin’s dismissed manslaughter case to Elon Musk’s regulatory battles, people weren’t just looking for “a lawyer near me.”

After analyzing search volume data, media mentions, social engagement, and legal industry reports from BTI Consulting, Legal Brand Marketing, and The Lawyers Global, we’ve assembled the definitive ranking of 2025’s most-searched legal talent.

The ranking blends raw search metrics (e.g., Google Trends spikes) with viral moments on platforms like X, Reddit, and Instagram. The common thread for the list being that scandal sells along with wins for controversial clients – including the all-time heavyweight on both counts: President Donald Trump.
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Mishcon in the Firing Line as ‘Secret Sale’ Sparks Explosive A$41 Million Court Ruling

Big Law, Headlining, Lawyers /

In a stinging rebuke to ethical back-room deals, an Australian Federal Court has found that Jason Karas, former partner at Lipman Karas (now LK Law), secretly brokered a deal to hand over the firm’s Hong Kong practice to London legal powerhouse Mishcon de Reya.

The court ruled that Karas negotiated the deal without informing his co-founder Skip Lipman or disclosing the extent of the transfer.
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The Legal Stars Who Made Netflix’s 83bn Warner Deal

Briefings, Headlining, LawStars, Lawyers /

LawFuel Premiers The Legal Stars Behind The Netflix Mega-Deal Ben Thomson, LawFuel contributing writer Hollywood finally did what everyone feared it might do and handed the keys to the Warner Bros kingdom to the world’s rrichest and determined binge machine, Netflix in an $82.7 billion deal that has involved platoons of lawyers. The deal is

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Private Equity Eyes Big Law And Top Firms Are Opening the Door

Headlining, Law Firms, UK Law /
private equity investment in law firms - LawFuel

The Private Equity Law Firm Play Ben Thomson, LawFuel contributor Private equity is circling the legal sector, a new breed of law firm is exploring ways to monetise its most valuable asset: equity in the partnership. Both Cohen & Gresser, a litigation boutique, and global player McDermott Will & Emery have reportedly been in discussions

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From Tinder Swipes to AI Legal Wins

Headlining, Law Firms, Legal AI /
legalfly has tinder style 'swipe right' tool for legal AI app

Remember swiping right on Tinder? Now imagine swiping through contracts at warp speed. That’s the magic LegalFly is bringing to the staid world of law, courtesy of a founding team that once powered the world’s hottest dating app with AI smarts.

Fresh off a blockbuster €15 million Series A, this Belgian legal tech disruptor is gunning for America’s biggest law firms, and it’s not messing around.
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