Tom Borman – Page 2

US Gunslingers Are Turning Our Courts Into a Bloody Mess – And Martyn Day Has Had Enough

Featured, Law Firms, UK Law / February 24, 2026

Martyn Day didn’t build Leigh Day into one of the most feared claimant firms in the country by playing nice. But even he’s raising an eyebrow at the American cavalry now thundering through the Royal Courts of Justice.

“From my experience,” the Leigh Day co-founder told The Times this week, “American firms tend to be more aggressive.”

“With the English firms, you know the lawyers… you can have sensible conversations with them and, where necessary, you can do deals and sort things out in a sensible, proper way.”

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Legal AI’s Quiet Winner – How Affinda Is Scaling While Big Software Stumbles

Australia Law News, Featured, Legal AI / February 16, 2026

Affinity brother Ben and Tim Toner - Legal AI, Australia

While public markets flinch at every new AI headline, Melbourne-based Affinda is doing something unfashionable in tech right now: raising money, growing revenue, and selling actual products lawyers use.

In a fresh $25 million funding round, Affinda lifted its valuation to $220 million, up from $120 million in mid-2024. The round was led again by Toll Group founder Paul Little, with backing from Ellerston Capital’s Ashok Jacob and former MYOB and REA Group CEO Greg Ellis.

No meme tokens. No vaporware. Just document AI doing unglamorous but billable work.

From “Legal AI Tool” to AI-Native Infrastructure

Affinda isn’t trying to replace lawyers with chatbots. It’s doing something far more dangerous to incumbents: making legal work faster, cheaper and harder to justify billing for inefficiency.

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Brad Karp’s Paul Weiss Exit – When ‘Once in a Lifetime’ Evenings Come Back to Haunt You

Headlining, Lawyers, US Law / February 6, 2026

Brad Karp’s 18-year reign atop Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison ended Wednesday night not with a bang, but with a carefully worded statement about “distractions.” Translation: the Justice Department’s release of millions of Epstein-related documents last week made his position untenable faster than you can say “conflict of interest.”

The emails paint a picture that’s more uncomfortable than a BigLaw associate’s billable hours target. In July 2015, Karp thanked Epstein for “an evening I’ll never forget,” describing it as “truly ‘once in a lifetime’ in every way, though I hope to be invited again.” Epstein’s response? A promise of “many many nights of unique talents” and assurances Karp would “be invited often.”

Spoiler alert: those invitations are now exhibit A in why being Chair of a white-shoe law firm and socialising with convicted sex offenders don’t mix well.

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Dechert Raids McDermott With 20‑Partner Team as It Re‑Enters Chicago and Targets Texas

Headlining, LawStars / January 24, 2026

Dechert has fired the opening shot of 2026’s lateral wars, lifting a 20‑plus partner team – including a top‑ranked complex litigation and accounting defense squad – from McDermott and using it as the launchpad for new offices in Chicago, Dallas and a disputes outpost in Houston.

Dechert has brought in more than 20 lateral partners across litigation, corporate and securities, IP and employment from McDermott Will & Schulte, anchored by a preeminent U.S. complex litigation practice and a Chambers Band 1 accounting defense team.

The group is led by Chicago trial and strategy heavyweight law star Mike Poulos, formerly partner in charge of global strategy and an executive committee member at McDermott, who becomes Dechert’s vice chair and global head of strategy.

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Willkie Farr Hit With $735m Fraud Suit: Franchise Group, Conflicts And Big Law Risk

Big Law, Featured, US Law / January 21, 2026

Willkie Farr & Gallagher is now at the centre of a $735 million fraud suit that doubles as a warning shot for Big Law about conflicts, gatekeeper liability and deal‑side risk management. The firm has already been stung by a major talent walkout last year over its deal with the Trump administration. BRC Group Holdings

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BigLaw’s $4.6 Trillion Year Sees Kirkland & Top Firms Dominate

Big Law, Headlining, UK Law / January 11, 2026

M&A Market Soars to Record $4.6 Trillion Tom Borman, LawFuel contributing editor BigLaw firms continue to sit at the top table when it comes to mega deals with the market showing 2025 deals valued at $4.6 trillion in global transaction value – a 49 percent surge over 2024 figures, according to the London Stock Exchange

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From Assange to Maduro – Law Star Barry Pollack’s Great Gamble in the Most Unlikely U.S. Trial

Headlining, LawStars / January 8, 2026

From WikiLeaks to Venezuela: Barry Pollack Takes on the Maduro Defense in a Case That Could Reshape International Law Tom Borman, LawFuel contributor Fresh from orchestrating Julian Assange’s dramatic release from a British prison cell, Washington power lawyer Barry Pollack has now assumed what may prove to be the most geopolitically important defense case of

From Assange to Maduro – Law Star Barry Pollack’s Great Gamble in the Most Unlikely U.S. Trial Read More »

Big Law’s Capital Squeeze Sees Partners Pay Up, Firms Power On

Big Law, Headlining / January 3, 2026

The legal profession has always had a peculiar relationship with money. Partners, after all, are supposed to be owners of their firms, yet increasingly, they’re being asked to prove their commitment with their wallets.

Welcome to the world of capital contributions, where making equity partner isn’t just about your billable hours anymore. It’s about how much cash you can pony up to join the club.
Here’s the thing about Big Law’s approach to partner capital: there isn’t one.

Survey data from about 80 Am Law 200 firms reveals a system that’s, to put it charitably, all over the shop.
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US Law Firms Double Down on Super Size London Takeover

Big Law, Headlining, UK Law / December 30, 2025

US law firms have turned London into their most important international bridgehead, increasing their lawyer ranks in the City by nearly 60 percent over the past decade and reshaping the U.K. legal market in the process.

The number of lawyers working in London offices of U.S.-headquartered firms rose from 4,889 in 2015 to 7,710 by the end of 2024, a 58 percent increase over ten years.
In total, 84 U.S. firms now have a London presence, underlining the City’s role as the key European hub for U.S. practices.
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Top European Firms Are Letting Gen AI Draft First – And Partners Aren’t Complaining

Headlining, Law Firms, Legal AI / December 25, 2025

European law firms have finally found something that can draft faster than a sleep‑deprived mid‑level – and it doesn’t ask for a bonus or threaten to lateral. New research from The Global Legal Post and LexisNexis shows leading firms in Germany, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands quietly handing first‑draft duty to generative AI tools, especially for contracts and complex commercial documents.

The focus is not sci‑fi robot lawyers, but something far more radical for BigLaw, making use of the knowledge the firm already has.

By plugging Gen AI into internal precedents, know‑how banks and document automation systems, these firms are generating “house style” drafts that reflect prior deals, client preferences and jurisdiction‑specific quirks rather than yet another generic template no one quite trusts.

Senior partners say the attraction is simple providing better quality at lower cost, delivered with guardrails around confidentiality and auditability that won’t make the GC’s risk committee choke either.
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