Norma Harris

Kathy Ruemmler – The White House Power Lawyer Now at the Centre of Wall Street’s Latest Scandal

Featured, LawStars, US Law /
Kathryn Ruemmler

If you wanted one lawyer who perfectly captures the Washington-to-Wall-Street revolving door in all its glittering, slightly nauseating glory, Kathy Ruemmler would be exhibit A. And the Epstein connection has emphasized the power and the gory of her fall.

For years she operated in the shadows, the kind of operator who whispers in presidents’ ears one day and bills Fortune 50 clients the next.

Now she’s front-page news, and not the good kind. As Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel of Goldman Sachs, Ruemmler just announced she’s stepping down in June 2026 after her past friendship with Jeffrey Epstein turned into the kind of reputational hand grenade that even the best white-collar defence team can’t defuse.

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The UK Law Firm Vanishing Act: Over 1,100 Law Firms Gone in Five Years

Featured, Law Firms, UK Law /
Law firm closure e1484682089683

Norma Harris, LawFuel contributing editor Well, if the UK legal scene were a magic show, the disappearing firms would be the star trick. By the end of 2025, SRA-regulated firms in England and Wales dipped below 9,000—the first time in recent history—down from over 10,000 in 2020, a net loss of more than 1,100. Over

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Norton Rose Partners Just Pocketed a 27% Payday – Blame the US (and a Bit of AI Magic)

Big Law, Briefings, Law Firms /
jeff cody fulbright norton rose

While the rest of Big Law was still muttering about market uncertainty, Norton Rose Fulbright quietly had one of those years that makes equity partners smile into their morning flat white.

The firm racked up more than US$2.8 billion in global gross revenue for 2025 – a tidy 16% jump. But the real headline? Profits per equity partner shot up 27% to nearly US$2.1 million. You read that right. Nearly $2.1 million. Per partner. Per year.

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UK Greenlights LawFairy: The Deterministic Tech-Only Law Firm That Actually Follows the Rules (No Hallucinations Allowed)

Law Firms, Legal AI, UK Law /
Raj panasar lawfairy lawfuel

Forget probabilistic guesswork – this London outfit promises auditable, flight-simulator precision for rule-heavy work like immigration. Second tech-led firm to clear the regulator after Garfield.Law, but the first to bet everything on verifiable legal logic rather than clever chatbots. The UK Solicitors Regulation Authority has just done something quietly revolutionary – it has authorised a

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Mishcon de Reya – From Mandelson Brief to Battle Stations

Headlining, Law Firms, UK Law /
Mandelson arrest - lawfuel - Image: ABC

For the law firm managing the defence of Peter Mandleson — Mishcon de Reya — today’s arrest represents a decisive escalation. What began as a high-profile reputation management brief has become one of the most significant criminal defence instructions in the firm’s history.

Mishcon de Reya was first reported to be representing Mandelson by The Lawyer earlier this month, with Johanna Walsh (pictured) head of the firm’s white-collar crime and investigations practice, leading the team.

The choice of Walsh, recognised by Legal 500 as a first-tier practitioner in serious and organised crime and by Who’s Who Legal as a Global Leader in Investigations, signalled from the outset that Mandelson and his advisers anticipated criminal exposure well before today’s arrest.

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Microsoft’s Copilot AI Read Your Confidential Emails — And Lawyers Should Be Paying Attention

Briefings, Featured, Law Firms, Press Releases /
Illya securityflaw

A security flaw that allowed Microsoft’s AI assistant to bypass privacy safeguards and summarise confidential emails is more than a tech inconvenience. For law firms and legal departments, it is a wake-up call. Microsoft has confirmed that a bug in its Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat tool allowed the AI assistant to access and summarise emails

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Law Firm Retention Bonuses 2026: How Much Firms Are Really Paying to Keep Their Associates

Briefings, Featured, Law Firms, Law Job News /
law firm associate retention bonuses

The war for legal talent never really ended. It just got more expensive with big law partner pay hitting record levels, but law firm retention bonuses becoming increasingly important as talent retention retains top level importance for law firms. While headline-grabbing salary bumps and biglaw salary information dominate the conversation, the quieter – and often

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Women In Law Firm Leadership: The Stubborn 20% Ceiling That Won’t Crack

Briefings, Featured, Lawyers, Power Law, US Law /
Georgiadawson lawfuel

The legal profession has a mathematics problem. Women now constitute the majority of law school graduates, comprise over half of associates at major firms, and represent 47% of all lawyers globally.

Yet when the elevator reaches the executive floor, the numbers tell a different story: just two in ten law firm leaders are women (although when they do reach the top women legal leaders are making a difference).

The latest research from the International Bar Association’s Raising the Bar: Women in Law project confirms what many practitioners have long suspected – the profession is experiencing a spectacular leakage of female talent somewhere between the mid-career mark and the managing partner’s office.

The Numbers That Should Keep Managing Partners Awake

The IBA’s December 2024 Progress Report, synthesizing data from 11 countries across five continents, reveals the uncomfortable arithmetic:

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Kirkland Loses Elite Energy Makers as Paul Weiss Goes on Offense

Big Law, Featured, US Law /
Oilbusiness

Paul Weiss Goes to Houston And The Energy Talent War Just Escalated When Paul Weiss just poached senior energy M&A dealmakers from Kirkland & Ellis and promptly announced a strategic push into Houston, this was not a polite handshake between firms but a major shakeup with weaponized intent. Paul Weiss, fresh from the headline-making resignation

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