Kirkland & Ellis and the Fine Art of Saying Sorry Without Saying Sorry Norma Harris, LawFuel contributor The planet’s most profitable law firm, Kirkland and Ellis, has decided its famously steely negotiation style could do with a coat of polish. The firm, long the darling (and occasional demon) of private equity clients, apparently received the clearest […]
Etiquette 101 for Kirkland & Ellis – How to Say Please Read More »
The masters of the M&A universe are discovering what the rest of us have known all along – that litigation pays, and it doesn’t evaporate when the dealmakers take a sabbatical.
Fresh data from Bloomberg Law reveals that some of the legal industry’s most ludicrously profitable firms, the ones that built fortunes advising private equity titans, are now scrambling to stockpile litigators like they’re preparing for the apocalypse.
Four heavyweights – Kirkland & Ellis, Paul Weiss, Davis Polk, and Paul Hastings – have inflated their litigation benches by at least 22 percnt since early 2024. It is noteworthy that these are firms that climbed to the top of the profitability charts primarily by perfecting the art of billing seven figures for corporate transactions, not courtroom combat.
What’s Behind The BigLaw Litigation Hiring Surge? Read More »
UK Chancellor Reeves Aims Her Sights on Lawyers & Others Ben Borman, LawFuel contributing editor UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves is eyeing roughly £2 billion a year by slapping employer-style National Insurance contributions (NICs) on members of LLPs, that’s lawyers, accountants and anyone else who looks suspiciously well-remunerated. Under the current regime, LLP members are taxed
Clifford Chance is boosting its class action capability in Germany with the recruitment of a 15 strong team in Germany, lead by partner Alexandra Diehl. The recruitment move follows other recent partner hires to the Clifford Chance disputes practice in Australia, Spain, Italy and the US. Diehl formerly worked at the firm before joining White
Clifford Chance Take 15-Strong Disputes Team in Germany Read More »
The Silence of the Partners Tom Borman, LawFuel contributing editor Kirkland & Ellis, the world’s top-grossing law firm, is playing it close to the vest again, this time with its new partner class. Being loud does not pay like discretion, apparently. As reported by AboveTheLaw, the firm has yet to formally announce or publicly list
Why Is The World’s Richest Law Firm So Quiet About Its New Partners? Read More »
Well, well, well . . nothing says “strategic legal planning” quite like hiring the very lawyer who helped broker your multibillion-dollar acquisition to then become your top legal talent. Makan Delrahim has officially traded his Latham & Watkins partnership for the corner office at Paramount Skydance Corporation, stepping into the CLO role on October 6th
Paramount’s Legal Musical Chairs Sees BigLaw Partner Cash In on His Own Deal Read More »
In a continuation of the U.S. legal industry’s strategic pullback from mainland China, K&L Gates has officially shuttered its Beijing office, according to a Reuters report. The firm, which had maintained a presence in the Chinese capital for nearly two decades, confirmed the closure in response to mounting operational challenges and a recalibrated global strategy.
K&L Gates Shuts Down Beijing Office Amid Ongoing U.S. Legal Exodus from China Read More »
The chair of Ropes & Gray’s IP litigation practice has moved to Sheppard Mullin with a 20-lawyer team from his former chair, taking four partneres and 16 counsel and associates. The lawyers include lawyers from Sheppard Mullin’s Manhattan, Silicon Valley, Washington DC and Seoul offices. Sheppard Mullin has worked to increase its IP law firm,
Sheppard Mullin Recruit Major Team From Ropes & Gray, Lead By Former Ropes Chair Read More »
How Data Science Is Rewriting Big Law Playbooks Tom Borman, LawFuel contributing editor When Cleary Gottlieb snapped up Springbok AI earlier this year it signalled something big: law firms are no longer just buying technology, they’re building it too. AI in law is big business. That transaction brought ten data scientists into Cleary’s fold and
Why Data Scientists Are Key to the Future of Law Firms Read More »
Tom Borman, LawFuel contributing editor The days of “AI curiosity” in law firms are over. According to Bloomberg Law, general counsel are now pressuring outside counsel to prove they’re using generative AI to cut costs and improve turnaround — or risk losing the mandate altogether. Corporate legal departments are no longer satisfied with glossy innovation
Bill Less, Win More – How Clients Now Demand GenAI From BigLaw Read More »
