Ben Thomson

Brown Rudnick’s 34‑Lawyer IP Raid Shows Big Law’s Lateral Arms Race Is Far From Over

Big Law, Law Firm Management, US Law /
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What Brown Rudnick’s Major Hire Signals For Big Law’s Lateral Wars Brown Rudnick has just fired another shot in Big Law’s lateral wars, landing the largest group hire in the firm’s history and using it to plant a fresh flag in Silicon Valley. The Boston‑headquartered firm has recruited a 34‑lawyer intellectual property litigation and patent

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Second Office Romance Report Deepens Wachtell’s Extraordinary Week

Big Law, Headlining, Law Firms, Lawyers, US Law /
Nat cullerton lawyer

And The Lawyer Who Stands To Lose Millions In The Transfer Deal The Central Park “canoodling couple” story we covered this week may have dominated social media, but the story surrounding Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz keeps growing. Fresh claims published by the New York Post allege that William “Bill” Savitt, the ‘law star’ trial

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Macfarlanes Hits £3.1m PEP – Proof That Staying Small Still Beats the Magic Circle

Law Firms, Press Releases, UK Law /
Macfarlanes

Macfarlanes has done it. Average pay for full-equity partners at the elite City firm has risen 8% to £3.1 million, smashing through the £3 million mark and leaving its larger Magic Circle rivals trailing by roughly a million pounds each. Turnover climbed more than 10% to £371.4 million, generating operating profit of £206.5 million. The

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Trump DOJ Subpoenas 14 Big Law Firms in ABA ‘Intimidation’ Fight

Headlining, Law Firms, US Law /
Trump subpoena

Justice Department demands records and depositions from firms that settled and those that fought Trump executive orders, reviving questions over executive power, privilege and law firm independence The U.S. Justice Department has subpoenaed 14 major law firms as part of its response to an ABA lawsuit challenging Trump‑era executive orders and alleged intimidation of the

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The Great BigLaw Heist. How Private Equity Is Buying Law Firms Through the Back Door

Briefings, Law Firms, US Law /
Lawfirm privateequity

Private equity can’t own a US law firm. So it bought everything else — and 2026 is the year the profession worked out that this was not a hypothetical. Ben Thomson, LawFuel contributing editor For decades the answer to “can outside investors own a piece of your law firm?” was a flat no, and the

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Norm Ai’s $1.2B Legal AI Gambit AsThe First True AI‑Native Law Firm Comes For Big Law’s Billable Hour

Featured, Law Firms, Legal AI, US Law /
Johnnay normlaw

Ben Thomson, LawFuel contributing editor Norm Ai’s latest funding round does more than crown the New York‑based startup as a $1.2 billion legal tech unicorn but displays full‑stack model for delivering complex legal work that sits very close to Big Law’s core business. The legal AI ‘infrastructure provider’, founded by John Nay (pictured), sits with

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Australia’s First $10 Million Law Partner? The Race Is On

Australia Law News, Big Law, Big Law Salary Scale, Briefings, Featured, Law Firm Management, Power Briefs /
Australia lawyer earnings

Australia is on the cusp of producing its first A$10 million‑a‑year law firm partner – and the smart money says that partner will sit at Corrs Chambers Westgarth or Gilbert + Tobin, according to a legal journalist who should know.

Veteran legal affairs journalist Michael Pelly made the claim in his Capital Brief’s Prima Facie newsletter, reporting that Australian legal partner earnings at the very top of the market have accelerated sharply since the pandemic, driven by fierce competition for rainmakers and a sustained boom in high‑value corporate work.
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Sidley Raids Clifford Chance for Five-Partner US Finance & Tax Team

Big Law, Power Briefs, Press Releases, US Law /
Yvette Ostolaza on LawFuel - Appointed to Sidley role

Sidley Austin has deepened its raid on Magic Circle rival Clifford Chance, hiring a five-partner finance and tax team in New York and Washington, D.C., to bulk up its global finance and tax platforms. The group is led by former Clifford Chance US global financial markets co-head Lee Askenazi, alongside finance partners Alistair Dunlop, Rebecca

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Inside the $5.8 Million Clifford Chance Clawback And The Brutal New Reality of Big Law’s Lateral Wars

Featured, Law Firm Salary Scale, US Law /
Cliffordchance lawfuel

The glittering promises of the Big Law lateral market have hit a multi-million dollar roadblock with the Clifford Chance legal battle that pulls back the curtain on the closely guarded mechanics behind biglaw partnership agreements.

Clifford Chance, a lucrative biglaw firm providing rich partner rewards, is aggressively pursuing millions of dollars in compensation clawbacks from two of its former top US partners.

Just two months after stepping down, Clifford Chance’s former global managing partner, Charles Adams, delivered a financial bombshell via mail to Andrew Cone and Michael Sabin the former co-heads of the firm’s US-based funds and investment management practice.

The letters outlined a massive financial hit . . Log in to read more . .

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