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 […]
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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,
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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.
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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
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Why Female Law Firm Leaders Are Changing the Business of Law Norma Harris, Lawfuel writer Women now lead an unprecedented slice of Big Law. The club is still small but it is richer, louder and far more important than most firms care to admit. In 2014 a handful of women who ran some of the
Lathams Law Raid Latham & Watkins has raided Freshfields’ in Germany to secure four of Europe’s most pedigreed private equity partners – Markus Paul, (pictued) who has two decades’ of deal-making experience behind him, Wessel Heukamp, Verena Nosch and Carsten Haak. The raid comes from a firm already sitting atop Bloomberg’s global M&A rankings, now
In a stinging rebuke to ethical back-room deals, an Australian Federal Court has found that Jason Karas, former partner at Lipman Karas (now LK Law), secretly brokered a deal to hand over the firm’s Hong Kong practice to London legal powerhouse Mishcon de Reya.
The court ruled that Karas negotiated the deal without informing his co-founder Skip Lipman or disclosing the extent of the transfer.
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Mishcon in the Firing Line as ‘Secret Sale’ Sparks Explosive A$41 Million Court Ruling Read More »
Paul Weiss has added to its New York finance practice by hiring three finance partners from Sidley Austin. He has advised on financing transactions ranging from US$20 million to over US$15 billion, including syndicated and privately placed financings, recurring revenue-based facilities, financings marketed in the United States for the acquisition of European and Asian targets.
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Law firms aren’t just trying to out‑pay each other anymore – they’re now in an amenities arms race, turning offices into luxury wellness bunkers so lawyers can bill 80 hours a week and still get their steps in, their hair done and their chakras aligned.
The money is still obscene, but the new game is: who can make the golden handcuffs feel most like a spa bracelet.
Newly qualified lawyers in London are now pulling up to around £180,000 in their mid‑20s, with top partners into the multi‑million‑dollar level, but the issue for law firms once everyone is paying nose-bleed money is to be the differentiator. Log in to read more . . .
Saunas, Salons and 2,000 Hours – Inside Big Law’s ‘Wellness’ Arms Race Read More »
