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 […]
BigLaw’s $4.6 Trillion Year Sees Kirkland & Top Firms Dominate Read More »
Latham & Watkins isn’t just hiring; it’s buying headlines in the sports law arms race. On January 6, the New York office pulled off a pair of marquee additions by luring partners Matthew Eisler and Russell Hedman from Hogan Lovells to supercharge its Entertainment, Sports & Media, and M&A & Private Equity practices. These aren’t
Sports Law Deal Sees Latham Lure Two Sport Law Stars From Hogan Lovells Read More »
Big Law’s Seven-Million Pound Question: Who’s Really Winning? A senior partner at a global law firm took home just over seven million pounds last year, according to newly disclosed figures. That is not a LawFuel typo, a bonus anomaly, or a rogue spreadsheet error. It is the modern upper limit of elite legal pay, written
One Partner, Seven Million Pounds: Inside Big Law’s New Pay Reality Read More »
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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Big Law’s Capital Squeeze Sees Partners Pay Up, Firms Power On Read More »
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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US Law Firms Double Down on Super Size London Takeover Read More »
And a Warning for Clients in BigLaw Megamergers Ben Thomson, LawFuel contributing writer Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader have agreed to merge into a firm with about three thousand one hundred lawyers and 3.6 Bn in revenue, a scale play that will push the combined shop into the global top five and it will also force
What The New Cadwalader Hogan Lovells Legal Giant Means Read More »
How BigLaw and AI Is Changing the Law Business Norma Harris, LawFuel contributor In December 2025, Cravath once again kicked off a new salary scale for associates, pushing first-year salaries to $225,000, with eighth-years pulling $430,000+. Not to be outdone, Kirkland & Ellis and Latham & Watkins matched within days. And more pay deals occurred,
How BigLaw Salary Wars And AI Are Upending The Legal World Read More »
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 . . .
3,100 Lawyers, One Story Get Big, Get Niche, or Get Bought Read More »
Winston Taylor to build on shared vision and culture in establishing a transatlantic powerhouse for major litigation, critical transactions, strategic IP, and private wealth CHICAGO & LONDON–Winston & Strawn and Taylor Wessing’s UK-led business announced today their intention to combine, creating a premier transatlantic law firm that would operate under a new shared name, Winston Taylor.
Winston & Strawn and Taylor Wessing UK to Combine Read More »
Pallas Partners Outpaced Biglaw Bonus Scales Norma Harris Pallas Partners, the transatlantic litigation boutique headed by power lawyer Natasha Harrison, that’s been quietly building a reputation with elite hires on both sides of the Atlantic has just dropped a compensation grenade into Big Law’s year-end bonus melee. The firm’s associates and counsel will receive total
Pallas Partners Blows Up Cravath-Scale Bonuses in 2025 Bonus Wars Read More »
