The London law firm behind Britain’s biggest group litigation is preparing to rebrand after co-founder Harris Pogust demanded the removal of his name. But the fight over its identity is only one part of an increasingly bitter struggle for control of the Mariana dam disaster litigation. A law firm losing its founding partners is hardly
First the Founders, Now the Name: Pogust Goodhead’s £36bn Civil War Read More »
As the owner of Kathmandu and Rip Curl battles a major $414 million loss, its legal fees have surged more than 1,400 per cent with Chapman Tripp pocketing the massive law fees’ surge as KMD Brands bleed money.
Two directors have connections to its longstanding legal adviser, raising questions about corporate governance and the management of potential conflicts.
Chapman Tripp received NZ$1.192 million in legal fees from the troubled retailer during the financial year ended July 2026, compared with just $79,000 the previous year, according to financial records from KMD and reported in the Australian Financial Review.
Chapman Tripp’s $1.2 Million KMD Payday Puts Boardroom Connections in the Spotlight Read More »
Neel Sachdev is the best-paid finance lawyer in London, the most-discussed lateral hire of the decade, and possibly the only Big Law partner who has consulted an astrologer before hiring associates. He’s also been continuing to attract a lot of publicity lately.
Most partners at elite law firms prefer to be invisible outside a small circle of clients and headhunters. Neel Sachdev has taken a different approach. The Paul Weiss London co-head is the subject of a new Financial Times profile, and it may be the most entertaining piece of legal journalism this year.
The FT’s legal correspondent, Suzi Ring, met the 51-year-old lawyer in Portugal, where he has invested in a luxury property development on the site of a former orange grove in the Algarve. He did not arrive quietly, but rather in a red open-top 1977 Mercedes 450 SL, wearing a matching outfit, sunglasses and his trademark beaded bracelets.
The Consigliere in the Red Mercedes – Neel Sachdev, Big Law’s Leading Man Read More »
And a hideous new AI Law Term Enters the Lexicon Nic Vetta is betting that private equity-backed businesses need something more useful than another law firm charging by the hour. His new London ‘newmod‘ venture (meaning ‘new model’, but headlined by his own name, of course) combines lawyers, engineers and fixed monthly fees. The interesting
Ex-Latham Lawyer Launches ‘NewMod’ AI-Driven Law Firm Targeting Private Equity Clients Read More »
Quinn Emanuel is rolling out the heavy artillery in the UK’s largest-ever group litigation. The litigation powerhouse has drafted Richard East, the founding and senior partner of its London office, into the sprawling £36 billion Mariana dam disaster case against mining giant BHP. The Mariana litigation has turned into one of the fiercest law-firm territory
Big Law’s long-cherished “cradle-to-grave” partnership model has run headfirst into a demographic traffic jam as senior partners simply aren’t quitting their firms, says a report from the WSJ. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, roughly a third of all U.S. lawyers are aged 55 or older, with 14% over 65. It
The Law Firm Boomer Bottleneck And Why Elite Law Firms Can’t Get Partners to Quit Read More »
Weil says it is not in merger talks. Read the sentence again, slowly Bloomberg Law reported on Friday that Weil, Gotshal & Manges, battered by an exodus of senior talent, is weighing options for its future that include a possible combination with a rival. Firm leaders have reportedly grown more receptive to the idea, and
Weil Gotshal Merger Talk: What Happens When You Lose 30 Partners And Your Rainmaker Read More »
Wade Kerzie, Founder, Kerzie AI Solutions John Bowie made a point on September 11 that the apocalypse posts keep skipping. Great Jakes measured AI referrals at 0.47 percent of sessions across its client sites, and his conclusion was that AI search is going to matter enormously and currently doesn’t matter very much. Both true. I’d add the
The Traffic Meter Can’t See the Clients AI Never Sends You Read More »
15 September 2026 – Latest Update As of September 2026, first-year associates at market-rate US law firms earn a base salary of $235,000, rising to $455,000 by their eighth year. Add the standard market bonus and total compensation runs from roughly $261,000 to $595,000. The numbers come from the Milbank scale set in June 2026
Big Law Salary Scale 2026: NQ to Partner, Firm by Firm Read More »
KEY TAKEAWAY: While law firms spend heroic sums teaching partners to build a “personal brand”, Massachusetts defence lawyer Kevin Reddington has stumbled on a simpler formula. Be very good in court, be unmistakably yourself, and let TikTok do the rest. Kevin Reddington is not the obvious prototype for a legal influencer. He is 75. He
