Ben Thomson

Hacked On Thursday, Disqualified On Friday: BigLaw’s Information Problem Gets A Face

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Lawfirmsecurity

There is no causal link between the two events. That is precisely why they matter. Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan had the sort of week that gets discussed at partner retreats for years, through gritted teeth and very painful memories. On Thursday 3 September, Reuters reported that Quinn Emanuel and McDermott Will & Schulte had

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The 3,000 Hour Associate: Inside The Troutman Pepper Locke Partnership Lawsuit

BigLaw, Lawyers, US Law /
Troutman brick signage Cropped scaled

A federal complaint filed in New Jersey has managed something most BigLaw disputes never do. It has put the partnership track’s least visible machinery, the allocation of supervisory credit, on a public court proceeding. Power Points: A Troutman Pepper Locke associate has sued the firm and two of its partners, alleging disability discrimination, interference with

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Texas Trial Lawyer Tony Buzbee Buys $15.5 Million Mansion Next Door. Then Calls In The Wrecking Ball

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Demolition

Power Point – Tony Buzbee’s latest River Oaks acquisition isn’t simply another trophy-home purchase. The Houston trial lawyer is assembling a two-acre estate by demolishing a 15,000-square-foot neighbouring mansion, while salvaging an estimated $4 million of its contents and building gardens in its place. It is an unusually vivid glimpse of the wealth generated at

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Wachtell Partner Exit Looms After Viral Central Park Canoodling Video

BigLaw, Lawyers, Quirky, US Law /
Nathaniel Cullerton (1)

The Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz litigation partner who played center stage in the Central Park viral video embracing a junior colleague is reportedly preparing to leave the firm. Nathaniel Cullerton remains employed by Wachtell and on leave, according to sources cited by the New York Post, but is said to be in the process

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Texas Trial Powerhouse McKool Smith Joins the Milbank Pay Scale (With a Delayed Start)

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McKool Smith has confirmed it will match the current Milbank associate salary scale, with the new pay rates taking effect on 1 January 2027. The Texas-based complex trial firm, known for competitive associate compensation which have reported previously, that has included Thanksgiving bonuses, strong year-end payouts, and market-matching raises, is lifting base salaries by $10,000

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Kirkland’s $500 Million AI Bet Isn’t About Speed. It’s About Killing the Billable Hour

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Jonballis kirkland

Kirkland & Ellis, the first law firm in history to break $10 billion in revenue, is putting half a billion dollars of its own money into a proprietary AI platform. That’s a big bold move (what else would you expect from Kirklands?) which is not to keep up with Harvey or Legora, or to shave a few hours off due diligence. It’s something far more valuable.

The plan is to bottle the firm’s “collective intelligence” and put it in every lawyer’s hands and, in the process, lean hard into the long-predicted death of the billable hour.
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Clifford Chance Goes to War Over $5.8 Million Partner Clawback: Behind the High-Stakes Geneva Battle

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Biglaw payscale

Key Points: Clifford Chance has asked the US District Court for the Southern District of New York to dismiss a declaratory-judgment action brought by former partners Clifford Cone and Michael Sabin and compel arbitration in Geneva, Switzerland, over the firm’s attempted recovery of almost $5.76 million in prior compensation. The firm described the lawsuit as

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Private Equity Eyes $700m WSHB Deal in Major Test for Big Law’s Ownership Rules

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WSHB LawFuel

The announcement that Charlesbank Capital Partners is reportedly in advanced discussions over a transaction involving national law firm Wood Smith Henning & Berman (WSHB), valued at about $700 million, according to the Financial Times., shows that private equity interest is moving beyond the contingency fee and consumer market. Neither Charlesbank nor WSHB has publicly announced

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What Will Clients Still Pay Lawyers For When AI Can Do The Work?

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BillablehourandAI

The robot lawyers are coming. AI will replace lawyers . . yada yada, we hear it all. But is that the wrong question lawyers should be asking. The real question is what will clients still pay lawyers to do when AI can research, review, summarise, draft and analyse increasing amounts of legal work in minutes?

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BigLaw’s Private Equity Moment -The Next Deal Won’t Be Paul Weiss

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Privateequity

Private Equity And Big Law Moves Paul Weiss, Quinn Emanuel and Proskauer have reportedly held preliminary conversations about outside capital, providing a key signal that private equity has found the back-office door into American law. LawFuel has been tracking that door since private equity first began eyeing Big Law and top firms started opening it.

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