Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader are in merger talks that, if successful, will create a firm on the fringes of the world’s top five, with revenue of $3.6bn.
Partners were briefed on the planned combination earlier today (18 December), after the two firms signed a memorandum of understanding in London earlier this week.
If the deal goes through, the 3,100-lawyer firm will be called Hogan Lovells Cadwalader, and will have extensive operations across the Americas, EMEA and APAC.
Their combined revenues of $3.6bn would place the merged firm in sixth place in the Global 100, above Gibson Dunn & Crutcher and just below A&O Shearman. Hogan Lovells posted a 10.5% revenue hike to $2.96bn for 2024, and Cadwalader also saw double-digit growth, with turnover up 15.7% to $638m.
Both firms also posted double-digit profit hikes for 2024, with Cadwalader’s profit per equity partner up 33.5% to $3.71m and Hogan Lovells up 12% to $3.07m.
Confirmation of the discussions ends months of speculation about Cadwalader’s future, with the New York firm’s brand recently linked with peers including Alston & Bird, in addition to Hogan Lovells.
Hogan Lovells has been open about its desire to bulk up in New York for years. Its merger talks with Cadwalader started in November 2024, cooled off in March this year, before resuming at pace in recent weeks.
Hogan Lovells CEO Miguel Zaldivar, who will serve as CEO of the combined firm, told Legal Business that both partnerships will vote on the deal in the spring, with the financially integrated union set to take place as soon as 30 June 2026.
Should it go ahead, the combination will bring together Hogan Lovells’ strengths in highly regulated sectors across G20 markets with Cadwalader, Wall Street’s oldest law firm, which counts many of the world’s leading financial institutions and private capital companies among its client base.
Cadwalader’s current co-managing partners Pat Quinn and Wes Misson will both take on international management roles, with Quinn becoming global managing partner for client and practice integration, and Misson becoming global managing partner for the finance practice.
The merged firm will have more than 370 lawyers in New York, with Cadwalader’s strength in finance and real estate finance adding depth to Hogan Lovells’ existing New York offering, which spans practices including M&A, sports, commercial litigation and real estate, where the firm added a team from legacy Stroock & Stroock & Lavan two years ago.
The deal will also gift Hogan Lovells a presence in Charlotte, the second biggest banking centre in the US, with more than 100 Cadwalader lawyers operating across fund finance, bank lending, securitisation and structured finance, real estate finance and commercial mortgage-backed securities.
Zaldivar told LB the deal was ‘history in the making’. He added: ‘Our partners are extremely excited. We have a shared ambition to be the greatest and most elite law firm out there.’
Misson said: ‘The sky is going to be the limit with this new platform. You’ve got two firms that are having record years. We’re having our second best year in our illustrious history, and we’re very much in growth mode right now.’
Quinn added: ‘The headline here is that this is two firms coming together to create a firm that there is nothing else like in terms of completeness of coverage and excellence of the practices across the globe.’
Over the past decade, Cadwalader’s revenue has grown by just a third, dipping from $481m in 2015 to $459m in 2020 before returning to growth, rising to $638m for 2024. Hogan Lovells – itself the result of the 2010 combination of Hogan & Hartson and the UK’s Lovells – has grown more quickly over the same period, with turnover up 67% from $1.78bn in 2015 to almost $3bn.
Cadwalader has turned to Davis Polk for legal advice throughout the merger process, with Hogan Lovells relying on its own M&A lawyers.
Davis Polk’s team has been led by chair and managing partner Neil Barr and M&A partner Lee Hochbaum, working with fellow New York partners Jennifer Conway (executive compensation), Michael Mollerus (tax) and civil litigation partner Michael Flynn, alongside Howard Shelanski (antitrust) in Washington DC.
