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Skadden follows Paul Weiss by cutting $100m pro bono deal with Trump as WilmerHale and Jenner fight back

the white house

Skadden has become the first major law firm to reach a pre-emptive settlement with US President Donald Trump to ward off the threat of an executive order, with the deal coming as WilmerHale and Jenner & Block both filed suits against the Trump administration following action taken against them earlier this week.

In a post on his Truth Social account, Trump announced that Skadden had agreed to provide a total of at least $100m in pro bono legal services ‘during the Trump administration and beyond, to causes that the President and Skadden both support.’

The elite US firm has also agreed that it ‘will not engage in illegal DEI discrimination and preferences’, and ‘will engage independent outside counsel to advise the firm to ensure employment practices are fully compliant with law.’

A White House statement said that Skadden had ‘approached President Trump and his administration, and declared the firm’s strong commitment to ending the weaponization of the justice system and the legal profession.’

Trump’s post also included a statement attributed to Skadden executive partner Jeremy London, saying: ‘Skadden is pleased to have achieved a successful agreement with President Trump and his Administration. We engaged proactively with the President and his team in working together constructively to reach this agreement. The Firm looks forward to continuing our productive relationship with President Trump and his Admin. We firmly believe that this outcome is in the best interests of our clients, our people, and our firm.’

According to Trump’s post, the agreement specifies that the pro bono work will cover areas including assisting veterans and other public servants; ensuring fairness in the justice system; and combatting antisemitism. It also states that ‘law graduates that receive Skadden fellowships will represent a wide range of political views, including conservative ideals.’

The announcement of the Skadden deal, which follows the a similar agreement struck by Paul Weiss last week, came after WilmerHale and Jenner both filed lawsuits against the administration, calling on the courts to block Trump’s executive orders against them, which suspend the firms’ security clearances and restrict their access to government buildings.

The administration filed the orders against Jenner and WilmerHale on Tuesday (25 March) and Thursday (27 March) respectively, using the ‘addressing risks from’ format previously used in orders issued against Perkins Coie (6 March) and Paul Weiss (14 March). All of the orders also call on federal agencies to terminate and disclose any contracts they have with the firms.

The order against WilmerHale criticised the firm for its 2020 rehire of Robert Mueller, who from 2017 to 2019 served as special counsel investigating alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election, as well as Aaron Zebley and James Quarles, who also rejoined the firm after working for Mueller. The order against Jenner similarly slammed the firm for its 2020 rehire of Andrew Weissmann, who also worked as part of Mueller’s team.

WilmerHale’s complaint states: ‘The President’s sweeping attack on WilmerHale (and other firms) is unprecedented and unconstitutional. The First Amendment protects the rights of WilmerHale, its employees, and its clients to speak freely, petition the courts and other government institutions, and associate with the counsel of their choice without facing retaliation and discrimination by federal officials.’

Jenner’s suit, meanwhile, calls the executive order against the firm ‘an unconstitutional abuse of power against lawyers, their clients, and the legal system.’

It also states that the order ‘is intended to hamper the ability of individuals and businesses to have the lawyers of their choice zealously represent them. And it is intended to coerce law firms and lawyers into renouncing the Administration’s critics and ceasing certain representations adverse to the government.’

A spokesperson for WilmerHale said: ‘The Executive Order targeting our firm is a plainly unlawful attack on the bedrock principles of our nation’s legal system—our clients’ right to counsel and the First Amendment. The terms of a nearly identical Executive Order have already been enjoined by a federal judge and today we have filed for immediate relief to protect the rights of our clients. We are bringing the dedication, expertise, and values that have served a wide range of clients in matters against administrations of both parties for decades to ensure their and our rights are upheld.’

Jenner & Block said in a statement: ‘Today, Jenner & Block filed a lawsuit to stop an unconstitutional executive order that has already been declared unlawful by a federal court. We expect to prevail quickly.

‘For more than 100 years, Jenner has stood firm and tirelessly advocated for our clients against all adversaries, including against unlawful government action. We once again go to court to do just that. To do otherwise would mean compromising our ability to zealously advocate for all of our clients and capitulating to unconstitutional government coercion, which is simply not in our DNA.’

The suits come after Perkins Coie filed a similar suit earlier in the month, with US district judge Beryl Howell in Washington DC granting a temporary restraining order on 12 March.

The Trump administration escalated its attacks on law firms on 17 March, when US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) acting chair Andrea Lucas sent letters to 20 global firms demanding extensive data relating to hiring and employment practices.

News then broke on 21 March that Paul Weiss chair Brad Karp had struck a deal with the administration, agreeing to conditions including a commitment of the equivalent of $40m in pro bono services to causes aligned with the administration’s agenda over the next four years in order to be freed from the executive order.

While law firm management has in most cases stayed silent on the issue, associates have been more active, with third-year associate Rachel Cohen resigning from Skadden in protest at the firm’s silence on the issue.

In a post on her LinkedIn today, Cohen shared a link to a Google Drive folder with resources for associates at targeted firms, including a commitment to a recruitment and interviewing freeze.

WilmerHale is represented by Paul Clement, a Legal 500 Hall of Famer for appellate work who established his own firm Clement & Murphy in 2022 after leaving Kirkland & Ellis in response to Kirkland’s decision to no longer accept Second Amendment cases. Clement also served as United States solicitor general in the second George W. Bush administration from 2004 to 2008.

Jenner, meanwhile, is represented by Cooley, with a team comprising partners Michael Attanasio in San Diego, David Mills in Washington DC, Kristine Forderer in San Francisco, and John Bostic in Palo Alto.

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HSF and Browne Jacobson lead as WHSmith sale takes brand from UK high streets

Herbert Smith Freehills and Browne Jacobson have picked up lead roles on the £76m sale of WHSmith’s UK high street business to Hobbycraft owner Modella Capital.

The deal sees HSF advising WHSmith, fielding a team led by M&A partner Bob Moore, consultant Ben Ward, head of media & digital Hayley Brady, banking partner Will Nevin and tax partner Casey Dalton.

TLT is advising alongside HSF, with a team including head of retail Perran Jervis.

Browne Jacobson is advising Modella Capital on its acquisition, with the firm’s team led by corporate partner Sandra Wong, commercial partner Emma Roake, IP partner Nick Smee and property partner Suki Tonks.

The sale, which includes 480 high street and retail park stores and 5,000 employees, will see the stores rebranding as TGJones, while WHSmith will retain its brand name for airports, railway stations and hospital outlets. Its international travel division operates across 32 countries.

In a statement, WHSmith group chief executive Carl Cowling said: ‘Given our rapid international growth, now is the right time for a new owner to take the High Street business forward and for the WH Smith leadership team to focus exclusively on our travel business’.

HSF has a longstanding relationship with WHSmith and previously advised on major transactions including its £166m placing, convertible bond issue, and its $400m acquisition of Marshall Retail Group. Other firms that have advised WHSmith in the past include TLT, which acted on a £400m sustainability-linked loan in June 2023, and Ogier, which advised on a £327m bond offering in 2021.

Modella Capital’s growing retail interest is further underscored by its reported bid for Lakeland this week.

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Revolving Doors: Paul Hastings picks up White & Case infra team while Bakers makes double hire in London

Paul Hastings led the high-profile partner moves this week, hiring two partners to lead a team across London, Paris, and Abu Dhabi, according to a source with knowledge of the firm.

The firm hired White & Case partners George Kazakov and Din Eshanov, with Kazakov based in London and Eshanov opening a new office for the firm in Abu Dhabi. Each lawyer joined White & Case as a partner in 2021, with Kazakov previously leaving Cleary Gottlieb as a senior associate in 2014 and spending the intervening seven years at Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners, while Eshanov joined after over 13 years at Akin, departing as senior counsel.

The hires come after news broke last month that Jessamy Gallagher and Stuart Rowson were leaving for Freshfields. Gallagher, a Legal 500 Hall of Famer for infrastructure: M&A and acquisition financing, and Rowson, a Legal 500 leading partner for upper mid-market and premium M&A, joined Paul Hastings in February 2023 from Linklaters, where they co-headed the firm’s global infrastructure practice.

Baker McKenzie was also active this week, with two hires into its London office.

The firm brought over corporate partner Michal Berkner, who left McDermott Will & Emery last November. Berkner joined McDermott from Cooley in February 2024. She joined Cooley in 2018 from Skadden, where she qualified and later made partner in 2008. She is dual-qualified in England and Wales and New York, and brings a wealth of experience in the life sciences, healthcare, and technology sectors.

Baker McKenzie also strengthened its antitrust and competition team with its hire of Marie Leppard. Leppard joins from Euclid Law, which she joined as a partner in 2016 after leaving Clifford Chance as a senior associate. She brings expertise advising a range of corporates and financial institutions on a range of matters before EU, UK, and global regulators.

McDermott, meanwhile, hired Legal 500 corporate tax leading partner Alex Jupp as its new UK head of tax. Jupp joins McDermott after nearly 19 years at Skadden, including nine as a partner.

Jupp marks McDermott’s eleventh lateral hire in London in the last year, including recent tax hire October’s recruitment of KPMG Law’s Candice Nichol, as well as other transactional hires including Fried Frank real estate partners Darren Rogers and Devina Rana in June and Legal 500 mid-market PE leading partner Jason Zemmel in October.

Across the Atlantic, Simpson Thacher hired Willkie Farr & Gallagher tax partner Adam Aderton into its Washington DC office as a partner in its litigation department. Aderton spent two and a half years at Willkie from 2022, and before that spent 14 years at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) division of enforcement, including three years as co-chief of the enforcement asset management unit.

Covington was active in Europe, hiring Nils Wahl into its EU competition and litigation practice in Brussels. Wahl has extensive experience as a judge, including at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) from 2019 to 2024.

Elsewhere, Herbert Smith Freehills hired IP lawyer Florian Schmidt-Bogatzky from EIP Europe in Düsseldorf.

Finally, Akin continued to build in the Middle East with its hire of project finance partner Jennifer Riddle. Riddle marks the firm’s second hire from White & Case in the region after it brought over corporate partner Alexander Malahias last week. Riddle will join Malahias in working out of the firm’s Abu Dhabi office until it receives its final regulatory approval to launch in Riyadh.

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Linklaters makes up 16 new partners in the City as Macfarlanes promotes nine

Linklaters has promoted 16 London lawyers to partner, with the City accounting for just under half of the firm’s 34 new global partner promotions.

The promotions, which are effective from 1 May 2025, are spread across 11 offices worldwide and 12 practices.

Of the London promotions, mainstream corporate gained five new partners, with litigation, arbitration and investigations picking up three new partners, while the capital markets and banking practices both welcomed two new partners apiece.

Outside London, four of the promotions are in the US, three in the Middle East with the remainder spread across continental Europe.

In 2024, Linklaters elevated 27 partners globally, with 14 of those in London.

Aedamar Comiskey, senior partner and chair at Linklaters said: ‘Delighted to welcome this hugely impressive group to our partnership. I’ve seen first-hand their big ambitions and entrepreneurial mindset and look forward to seeing what they’ll achieve for our global clients and our firm.’

The firm also elevated 21 of its London lawyers to counsel, representing 44% of the global total of 48. The financial regulation practice saw the greatest number of additions with four new counsels added in London.

Elsewhere, Macfarlanes has elevated nine City lawyers to partner, effective from 1 April 2025, in its  2025 promotion round.

The tally is the largest promotion round since 2019, and comes after the firm made up eight lawyers in 2022 and 2023 and six in 2024.

The private client and corporate and M&A practice groups were the biggest beneficiaries with both seeing two additions to their partnership.

Sebastian Prichard Jones, senior partner, said: ‘Promoting new partners is a key part of our firm’s growth, and I am delighted to welcome this year’s cohort to the partnership. Their expertise spans a broad mix of practice areas, reflecting the diverse strengths of our firm and the opportunities we see across the market.’

Macfarlanes promotions in full: 

Pinar Celebi (finance)

Iskra Doukova (private client)

Caja Griesenbach (competition)

Greg James (Corporate and M&A)

Sarah Ling (Tax and Reward)

Sindhuja Shriananda (Real Estate)

Mark Stichbury (Private Client)

Alice Temkin (Corporate and M&A)

Jacob Ward (Litigation and Dispute Resolution)

 

Linklaters London partner promotions in full :

Mark Daniel (antitrust & foreign investment)

Bobby Butcher (banking)

Victoria Wright (banking)

Andrew Chaplin (capital markets)

Emma Crawford (capital markets)

Nick Szmigin (energy & infrastructure)

Herbie Mudhar (legal & risk)

Alexander Fawke (litigation, arbitration & investigations)

Elly Proudlock (litigation, arbitration & investigations)

Rebecca Burton (litigation, arbitration & investigations)

Henrietta White (mainstream corporate)

Igor Rogovoy (mainstream corporate)

John Tsui (mainstream corporate)

Thomas Ford (mainstream corporate)

Tom Bishop (mainstream corporate)

Alasdair Smith (pensions)

[email protected]

 

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A&O Shearman, Reed Smith, and Bates Wells among winners at 2025 Legal 500 UK ESG Awards

A&O Shearman, Reed Smith, and Bates Wells were among the standout winners at the inaugural Legal 500 UK ESG Awards 2025, which drew guests from across the legal profession to the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge this Tuesday (25 March).

Dentons kicked off the evening with a win for Women in Law: Best Initiative to Attract and Retain Talent 2025, recognised for its Career Directions Programme, a core part of its five-year firmwide strategy to improve gender balance that has engaged 76 women lawyers to date, including 29 in 2024.

Weil Gotshal & Manges took home ESG: Law Firm Initiative 2025 for its commitment to ESG, launching a solicitor apprenticeship as well as helping to launch the UK’s first Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability apprenticeship qualification.

Gowling WLG won DE&I: Law Firm Initiative 2025 for its successful five-year ‘Inclusion for All’ strategy, while The LGBTQ+ Lawyers’ Programme claimed LGBTQ+: Initiative 2025 for its pioneering work engaging more than 20 firms in an initiative designed for mid-to-senior level LGBTQ+ lawyers.

A&O Shearman’s global environmental and climate law group co-head Matthew Townsend was awarded ESG: Private Practice Champion 2025. A founding member of his firm’s global ESG group, Townsend’s expertise continues to influence corporate sustainability and environmental governance, advising boards and global organisations.

Varnika Chawla of Climate Asset Management won Rising Star 2025 for her efforts in building the firm’s internal regulatory working group and leading initiatives on ESG and voluntary carbon market regulations.

Baker McKenzie took home the Clean Energy Practice Area Award, recognised for its impressive work on a wind and solar portfolio financing and securing a €1bn deal for a long-term renewable hydrogen supply.

White & Case won the Environmental Protection  Award for its pivotal role in helping Botanic Garden Conservation International develop a groundbreaking legal framework for Biodiversity Impact Credits.

Other practice area wins saw Pinsent Masons taking home the ESG Regulatory and Compliance Award for its innovative approach to mitigating regulatory risks, while Reed Smith secured the Sustainable Finance Award for its disaster relief mechanism, with the Red Cross focused on addressing climate change.

Bates Wells won Best Environmental/Sustainability Strategy 2025, recognised for its science-driven approach to sustainability. As the first UK law firm certified as a B Corp, the firm has transitioned all employees to a sustainable pension fund and met or exceeded targets for reducing electricity consumption, waste, travel, and paper usage.

In the in-house categories, Compass Group was awarded In-house Social Mobility Initiative 2025 for the success of its Compass Group Foundation, which exceeded £1m in grant funding and charitable donations in the past year. InterLaw Diversity Forum won DE&I: In-house Initiative of the Year, commended for its expanded focus on cultural change and intersectionality in the workplace.

E.ON’s senior legal counsel Maybo Chong was named DE&I: In-house Champion of the Year for her advocacy work supporting families with babies in neonatal care and championing greater flexibility and support for eligible parents. Bupa Global, India and UK general counsel Stuart Brown won ESG: In-house Champion of the Year for leading the charge as chair of the Bupa Foundation, pivoting its strategic direction to focus on environmental causes.

Elsewhere, Sharpe Pritchard’s head of net zero Steve Gummer was awarded Environmental/Sustainability Champion 2025. Recently named one of Legal 500’s new UK Green Ambassadors, Gummer was recognised for his role in developing the first major UK reservoir in a generation for Portsmouth Water and securing government backing for floating offshore wind projects.

A&O Shearman pensions partner Jessica Kerslake won DE&I: Private Practice Champion of the Year for her dedicated support of black colleagues throughout their legal careers, including co-chairing the firm’s Race and Ethnicity Committee.

At the Bar, joint head of Garden Court Chambers Grace Brown took the DE&I: Bar Champion 2025 award, while Laurie-Anne Power KC of 25 Bedford Row and Government Legal Department deputy director Simon Regis won the Ethnicity: Champion 2025 award.

Fountain Court Chambers’ Leigh-Ann Mulcahy KC was awarded Women in Law: Champion 2025 for her tireless efforts to champion diversity in law, including her involvement with the Temple Women’s Forum Committee and the Inns of Court Alliance for Women.

The end of the evening saw two Lifetime Achievement Awards handed out . Obelisk’s Dana Denis-Smith was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award for Women in Law, for her groundbreaking work in championing gender equality in the legal profession. Her efforts earned her an OBE in the 2024 New Year Honours for her significant contributions to advancing women’s rights within the field.

Linklaters’ Vanessa Havard-Williams meanwhile received the Lifetime Achievement Environmental Award for her decades-long leadership in ESG work at Linklaters, where she has been involved in everything from climate change to human rights to crisis management, and ESG litigation and greenwashing. She recently chaired the UK Treasury’s Transition Finance Market Review, a key initiative aiming to position the UK as a global leader in net-zero funding.

Legal 500 UK ESG Awards winners in full:

Best Environmental/Sustainability Strategy 2025 – Bates Wells

Best Law Firm Advisory Team: Clean Energy 2025 – Baker McKenzie

Best Law Firm Advisory Team: Environmental Protection 2025 – White & Case

Best Law Firm Advisory Team: ESG Regulatory and Compliance 2025 – Pinsent Masons

Best Law Firm Advisory Team: Sustainable Finance 2025 – Reed Smith

DE&I: Bar Champion 2025 – Grace Brown, Garden Court Chambers

DE&I: In-house Champion 2025 – Maybo Chong, E.ON

DE&I: Private Practice Champion 2025 – Jessica Kerslake, A&O Shearman

DE&I: Law Firm Initiative 2025 – Gowling WLG

DE&I: In-house Initiative 2025 – InterLaw Diversity Forum

DE&I: Rising Star 2025 – Teena Patel, KPMG Law

Disability/Neurodiversity: Best Initiative to Attract and Retain Talent 2025 – Legal Neurodiversity Network

Disability/Neurodiversity Champion 2025 – Jonathan Andrews, Reed Smith

Environmental/Sustainability Champion 2025 – Steve Gummer, Sharpe Pritchard

ESG: Private Practice Champion 2025 – Matthew Townsend, A&O Shearman

ESG: In-house Champion 2025 – Stuart Brown, Bupa

ESG: Law Firm Initiative 2025 – Weil Gotshal & Manges

ESG: Rising Star 2025 – Varnika Chawla, Climate Asset Management

Ethnicity: Best Initiative to Attract and Retain Talent 2025 – Browne Jacobson

Ethnicity: Champion 2025 – Laurie-Anne Power KC, 25 Bedford Row, and Simon Regis CBE, Government Legal Department

Governance: Initiative/Team 2025 – Clear Channel

LGBTQ+: Champion 2025 – Jacqui Rhule-Dagher, Hogan Lovells

LGBTQ+: Initiative 2025 – The LGBTQ+ Lawyers’ Programme (The LLP) (pictured)

Lifetime Achievement Award: Environmental and Sustainabilty  – Vanessa Havard-Williams, Linklaters

Lifetime Achievement Award: Women in Law – Dana Denis-Smith, Obelisk Support

Mental Health & Wellbeing Initiative 2025 – The Mindful Business Charter

International Pro bono Initiative 2025 – Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton

UK Pro bono initiative 2025 – Travers Smith

Social Mobility: Best Initiative to Attract and Retain Talent 2025 – Latham & Watkins

In-house Social Mobility Initiative 2025 – Compass Group

Social Mobility: Champion 2025 – Caroline Green, Browne Jacobson

Women in Law: Best Initiative to Attract and Retain Talent 2025 – Dentons

Women in Law: Best Initiative to Improve Female Representation within Senior Ranks 2025 – The Eagle Club

Women in Law: Champion 2025 – Leigh-Ann Mulcahy KC, Fountain Court Chambers

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‘We’ve had a lot of “holy cow” moments’ – how gen AI is shaking up the legal industry

‘If you’re a lawyer that sticks your head in the sand and refuses to engage with this technology, that’s going to lead to a short career path.’

As Simmons & Simmons TMT head Alexander Brown underlines, the rise of artificial intelligence and gen AI platforms such as ChatGPT has sent shockwaves through the legal profession – and despite all the old stereotypes of technophobic lawyers, most sensible legal professionals are aware this is not something they can afford to ignore.

Sebastian Lach

‘The world is changing and anyone who doesn’t embrace this change risks being left behind,’ says Hogan Lovells partner Dr Sebastian Lach, the co-CEO of the firm’s legal tech brand ELTEMATE. This sentiment is echoed by Macfarlanes lawtech practice leader Christopher Tart-Roberts, who puts it plainly: ‘AI is shaping the firms of the future.’

Buy vs build

The breakneck rise to prominence of AI has left everyone scrambling to keep up and figure out if and how it can be incorporated into their day-to-day work.

One of the first questions for law firms weighing up what to do with AI is whether to buy or build. For those looking to buy, a popular choice so far has been Harvey, a gen AI legal platform that was launched in 2022 and is licensed by firms including A&O Shearman, Macfarlanes, Ashurst and CMS.

Harvey runs on OpenAI’s powerful language models including GPT-4 and, according to the OpenAI website, has been customised with 10 billion tokens worth of data to make it more suitable for legal work such as contract analysis, due diligence, litigation and regulatory compliance.

Microsoft Copilot, which also runs on OpenAI’s language model infrastructure, is another popular choice, and is used by firms including Clifford Chance and Simmons & Simmons to automate tasks such as email review and note-taking.

For those looking to build, a common approach has been to follow Harvey’s lead and customise existing gen AI language models such as OpenAI’s GPT-4 to make them more suitable for legal work. Examples of firms who have developed their own AI chatbot tools in this way include Simmons (Percy), Osborne Clarke (OC-GPT) and Hogan Lovells (Eltemate Craig).

Although these bespoke models will vary, they are all able to assist lawyers with real-world legal tasks ranging from drafting emails to document review,  due diligence and automating redactions.

The client side

While at some firms, AI-powered tech is currently only being deployed internally, others are developing systems as part of their client offering.

Alexander Brown

Macfarlanes has developed Amplify – a gen AI solution powered by Harvey that is tailored to clients’ needs such as contract screening and chat-style querying across documents and data sets. Hogan Lovells has its own legal tech brand, ELTEMATE, which combines third-party solutions with proprietary software and includes Craig and Regulatory Pilot – a customised AI tool that and automates the process of collecting, reviewing and processing regulatory updates.

Osborne Clarke, meanwhile, has put together an in-house client technology team, Osborne Clarke Solutions, which in addition to providing AI tools for internal use, develops bespoke legal tech platforms for clients such as case management platforms to manage the employee immigration process at OVO Energy.

Holy cow

The next question then is: are significant numbers of lawyers already effectively using AI and, if so, how?

On the first point, the answer appears to to be yes. At Macfarlanes, Tart-Roberts says that over 80% of its lawyers use Harvey regularly. At Hogan Lovells, Lach says that 1,900 out of 7,000 Hogan Lovells employees (almost 30%) use ELTEMATE – including 600 ‘power users’, while Simmons’ Brown says that Percy receives 4,500 to 5,000 individual prompts per day.

On the second point – how lawyers are using AI – Tart-Roberts points to the emergence of two distinct use cases for AI: ‘incremental savings on everyday tasks including drafting, summarisation, analysis, and interpretation’ and assisting with ‘more significant workstreams such as due diligence and documents.’

Lach, meanwhile, points to how AI can help clients navigate the increasingly complex regulatory landscape, highlighting how one of its ELTEMATE tools – Regulatory Pilot – helps to source and review an average of 10,000 regulatory documents per month for an international client. With a combination of AI (93%) and ELTEMATE staff (7%), those 10,000 documents that need reviewing can be reduced to around 50.

The use of AI agents is another area where AI is progressing. As Brown explains, these are essentially ‘autonomous bots trained to do very specific tasks or execute specific workflows’ citing the example of an AI agent that drafts, reviews and marks up non-disclosure agreements.

Dan Wright

And all of this is just scratching the surface, with new use cases arising all the time – frequently from the lawyers who are actually using these AI tools.

As Osborne Clarke’s Dan Wright – who heads up the firm’s OC Solutions offering – puts it: ‘We can provide some ideas, but the far more valuable ideas come from those actually living and breathing the relevant work on a day-to-day basis.’

Lach makes a similar point about great ideas coming from lawyers using AI – as he puts it: ‘We’ve had a lot of “holy cow” moments.’

The billable hour

One key aspect of the lawyer-client relationship that could be impacted by the AI revolution is the billable hour. The logic for this is laid out by one partner, involved with AI implementation: ‘If you tell a client that you’ve started using something that makes you 60% more efficient, the obvious question is going to be: “Can I get my stuff done for 60% cheaper?’

While none of the partners canvassed for this article would go as far to say that the end of the billable hour is nigh, many forsee change coming rapidly over the horizon.

As Wright puts it: ‘The use of the billable hour is gradually being eroded in relation to a growing number of areas of work. A catalyst for the speed at which that erosion happens is the advent of technologies like large language models.’

Brown makes a similar point. ‘I think there will have to be value-based billing for some of these deliverables, because the reality is that there is a lot of upfront investments in this stuff, and an increasingly significant technology spend overhead.’

Christopher Tart-Roberts

At Burness Paull, Mike Guthrie, who is on the firm’s transformation and innovation strategy group, asserts that as technology becomes more ubiquitous, changes may become easier to make. ‘At the point when gen AI becomes a standard tool in every law firm’s arsenal, I suspect you’re likely to get a scenario where people might be willing to value advice in a different way,’ he predicts.

Am I out of a job?

While almost everyone can agree that increased efficiency and the automation of mundane tasks are good things, the obvious next question is: are the robots coming for my job?

The answer for any lawyers considering brushing up on their woodworking skills thankfully appears to be no.

As Brown puts it: ‘I don’t feel scared by AI, and I think it’s really important that lawyers don’t feel scared by it. This isn’t the first time that we’ve had technology change in our profession or in the market.’

Gereon Abendroth, managing director of OC Solutions in Germany and chair of OC’s international’s AI management board is of a similar mind. ‘AI can come up with very good strategic decisions based on data, but it will always lack the human element and the trust that a personal relationship adds to decision-making’.

As an oft-repeated mantra in legal tech circles goes: ‘AI isn’t going to replace lawyers, but lawyers who use AI will, in time, replace lawyers who don’t use AI.’

The Legal Business AI Legal Summit 2025 will take place on 27 March, bringing together senior figures in the artificial intelligence sector to explore AI’s transformative impact on the legal and regulatory landscape. Click here to view the agenda.

Leading law firms and their use of AI: a non-comprehensive overview of what’s being used

DLA Piper

•Aiscension – Created in collaboration with eDiscovery experts Reveal, it scans millions of communications in minutes using neural network technology to enhance risk monitoring.*
• Microsoft – CoPilot enhancing legal workflow automation.
•Kira –AI-driven contract analysis platform. Identifies key provisions in large document collections quickly and accurately
•ButterflAI –An in-house developed generative AI-powered legal assistant designed to ensure security for client work.*
• RelativityOne – identifies and reviews relevant documents in large data sets
• PiperAI – a proprietary AI platform, developed to allow for rapid scaling of client solutions (based on Azure and OpenAI)*
*Developed in-house

A&O Shearman

• Harvey – A GPT-powered platform (recently valued at $3bn) leveraging natural language processing, machine learning, and data analytics to automate legal work such as contract analysis, due diligence, litigation, and regulatory compliance.
• ContractMatrix – A proprietary contract drafting tool developed in partnership with Microsoft and Harvey (built on Microsoft Azure’s OpenAI platform). It streamlines contract drafting, review, and analysis and is being licensed to clients.
• Avvoka – A legal tech platform that was part of Fuse, A&O Shearman’s technology incubator. It automates document processes across multiple European jurisdictions and played a key role in finalising the 2024 merger of Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling.

Clifford Chance

• Clifford Chance Assist – seveloped on Microsoft Azure’s OpenAI platform to enhance legal services.
• Microsoft 365 CoPilot & Viva Suite – automates a variety of daily tasks, including meeting and task management, drafting emails, inbox management, and providing access to continuous learning via Viva Insights and Viva Learning.
• Microsoft Teams Premium – provides live transcripts to assist in legal documentation and case tracking.

Hogan Lovells

• ELTEMATE CRAIG – A legally refined and customised suite of generative AI solutions. Developed by ELTEMATE, Hogan Lovells’ technology company, and used both client-facing as well as internally. Drafts legal documents, summarises content, allows chatting with large volumes of data, analyses and generates contracts, translates documents, automates redactions and much more. Recently added modules include:
• Chronology Generator – Automates the creation of a chronology of facts from a large set of data. Provides sources and includes a chat feature to query the timeline and all uploaded documents.
• Patent Litigation Module – Designed to streamline and enhance the workflow involved in challenging the validity of patents. Generates sophisticated novelty charts, assists in drafting challenges and condenses arguments presented by opponents and patentees.
• Investigations Cockpit – Analyses and summarises relevant content from internal investigations. Reviews emails for relevancy in the internal investigation and drafts interview outlines.
• Regulatory Pilot – A customized AI tool. Simplifies and automates the process of collecting, reviewing and processing regulatory updates. Greatly reduces the number of regulatory updates that require manual review. Part of the ELTEMATE portfolio.

Linklaters

• Chatbot: Laila – an alternative to ChatGPT, built on Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI platform, which gives staff access to GenAI functionality in a private and secure environment.
• Microsoft Copilot – the firm rolled out Microsoft 365’s Copilot globally following the success of its participation in their Early Adopters Programme
• Kira – an AI-driven contract analysis platform.
• NAIX – redaction automation
• RelativityOne – the firm’s default in-house eDiscovery platform
• StructureFlow – tools used to help develop complex organisation charts and diagrams
• ReportiQ – a Linklaters-developed tool (in collaboration with WizDocs): a next-generation online due-diligence platform, created to manage all aspects of the due-diligence processes.
• CreateiQ 2.0 – a Linklaters-developed contract management platform.
• Opus 2 Investigations – A secure cloud-based platform that consolidates key evidence in investigations into a single connected space.

Freshfields

• Freshfields Lab – an in-house hub for legal tech innovation and digital transformation.

Norton Rose Fulbright

• AI-assisted eDiscovery platform –used for litigation and compliance purposes.
• NRF Transform – a suite of client-focused legal tech solutions, including Horizon Scanner for regulatory tracking.

CMS

• Global Partnership with Harvey – enhancing AI-driven legal services.
• Kira – a leader in natural language processing for legal document review.
• Avail –  real estate-focused document review and machine learning platform.
• Lexis+ AI –  AI assistant supporting legal research, document drafting, and case analysis.
• Internal AI Chatbot – built on OpenAI technology for firm-wide legal assistance.
• Microsoft 365 CoPilot – Integrated for productivity and document management.

Eversheds Sutherland

• Microsoft 365 Copilot – enhancing legal workflow automation.
• Lexis+AI – AI assistant supporting legal research, document drafting, and case analysis.
Herbert Smith Freehills

• Microsoft 365 CoPilot – enhancing legal workflow automation.
• Luminance Corporate Pilot – AI-driven legal technology for corporate compliance and document review.
• CoCounsel Pilot – Built on GPT-4, assisting with legal research, document review, and correspondence drafting.
• Relativity aiR for Review – In early access trials for litigation and investigations, integrated with Microsoft Azure’s OpenAI services.
• hsf.AI – Version 2 of the firm’s private instance of ChatGPT, ensuring secure AI use within its IT environment.

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‘A real danger’ – Trump crackdown presents new challenge for law firms

This week’s escalation of the Trump administration’s targeting of major law firms has come as a shock to a legal profession not used to such direct government intervention in their business.

After issuing stringent executive orders curtailing the business activities of Paul Weiss, Covington & Burling and Perkins Coie, firms whose lawyers have come up against Donald Trump in the past, this Monday (17 March) the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that it had opened investigations into a total of 20 global law firms in relation to their recruitment policies.

Based on an intention to tackle what Trump characterised as ‘unlawful discrimination perpetrated in the name of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” policies’, major firms including Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, A&O Shearman, Freshfields, Hogan Lovells, Sidley and White & Case were ordered to provide in-depth personal data on all applicants for jobs at their firms dating back to 2019.

Unsurprisingly, the firms targeted have been reluctant to publicly respond to the evolving situation, with all either declining to comment for this article or not responding to a request for comment.

But reactions from the wider market have ranged from alarm to outrage – with some partners voicing fears around the impact Trump’s actions will have on recent progress made in diversity in law.

One managing partner at a firm with a presence in both the US and the UK said: ‘I find it very concerning. It appears that certain people are being targeted because they represent a challenge.

‘Of course, no profession is immune to the rules everyone else follows, but there’s a real danger when other motives are at play. Honestly, I don’t fully understand why this has become such a priority for the US administration.’

The letters sent to the 20 firms contain some particularly jarring details, including a reference to their engagement with a US internship programme, the website of which ‘displays a picture of 20 law students, at least 14 of whom are black students, one of whom is an Asian student, and eight of whom are women.’

The earlier executive orders directed at Perkins Coie and Paul Weiss raised grievances unrelated to DEI, including Perkins Coie’s work for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Paul Weiss’s 2022 recruitment of Mark Pomerantz, who worked to prosecute Trump while serving as a special assistant district attorney in the office of the New York County District Attorney.

As this article went to press, it emerged that Paul Weiss had struck a deal with the Trump administration to rescind the executive order targeting it after agreeing to a number of conditions. These include a rejection of DEI policies and a donation of ‘the equivalent of $40m in pro bono legal services over the course of President Trump’s term to support the Administration’s initiatives’.

According to a report in the New York Times, senior partners at leading firms in the US have been holding discussions about how to respond to Trump’s crackdown. The article also states that Paul Weiss reached out to Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan’s Bill Burck for representation ahead of Paul Weiss chair Brad Karp reaching a deal with Trump.

The Trump administration’s attacks have come as a particular shock to firms based in the UK, where DEI initiatives have, to date, faced almost no political scrutiny.

While many firms and partners have been reluctant to speak to LB even off the record, one City lawyer commented: ‘We need people to stand up for what they believe, even if the political tide is swaying in the other direction. I think we’re going backwards – we know for a fact that more profitable businesses are those that are inclusive and diverse.’ 

The Law Society of England and Wales is one of 18 organisations to have signed a joint letter condemning the administration’s attacks on law firms.

The letter, issued by the Commonwealth Lawyers Association, states: ‘Lawyers must be able to represent their clients without fear of retaliation and must not be punished because of who their clients are. The independence of the legal profession is fundamental to ensure respect for human rights and is a crucial element of the rule of law.’

In the US, meanwhile, several hundred associates have signed a letter coordinated by third-year Skadden finance associate Rachel Cohen calling on their firms ‘to defend their colleagues and the legal profession by condemning this rapid purge of “partisan actors,” a group that seems to be synonymous with those the President feels have wronged him.’

Cohen yesterday announced that she had handed in her notice to Skadden, stating: ‘If being on this career path demands I accept that my industry – because this is certainly not unique to Skadden – will allow an authoritarian government to ignore the courts, I refuse to take it any further.’

Meanwhile, this Wednesday (18 March), seven former EEOC officials issued an open letter questioning the letters sent to law firms demanding diversity data, and calling for the letters to be withdrawn ‘to preserve the credibility of the Commission.’

As the situation develops, firms will have to contend with an array of implications from the impact on clients, to public relations issues and potential reputational damage, as well as future enforcement risks.

As one partner at one of the targeted firms put it: ‘I wish we weren’t so in the news. America is an awful place right now.’

Additional reporting by Anna Huntley and Tom Cox.

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Revolving Doors: Quinn Emanuel’s Bremen departs while Simpson Thacher hires two in the US

Royal Exchange, London

James Bremen, the chair of Quinn Emanuel’s construction practice, has left after eight years to join independent litigation firm Joseph Hage Aaronson. He will take on the role of presiding partner, bringing with him Quinn partners James Mayers and Mark Grasso. The firm will be rebranded as Joseph Hage Aaronson & Bremen from next month. 

Bremen, who was a partner at Herbert Smith Freehills from 2011 to 2016, and before that spent two and a half years as a partner at King & Spalding, was profiled by Legal Business in 2023 as a social media influencer.

Elsewhere, Simpson Thacher made a double hire in the US, bringing on partners Carleigh Rodriguez in Washington DC and Niels Jensen in New York. 

Rodriguez, who joins from Kirkland, will co-head the firm’s environmental practice, advising clients on environmental issues in M&A, securities, financing transactions, and bankruptcies.  

Jensen, who previously co-headed Vinson & Elkins’ aviation finance team, has joined STB’s capital markets practice, where he will focus on securitisations, including digital infrastructure, whole business, and PDP well securitisations, across industries such as energy, infrastructure, aviation, and healthcare. 

Meanwhile, White & Case added Xavier Hubert as a partner to its global white-collar practice in Paris. Hubert joins from Engie, where he served as group director of ethics, compliance, and privacy. He brings experience in advising on corruption and fraud matters, as well as handling interventions and actions before commercial and civil courts in business law and liability disputes.  

Earlier in his career, he spent nearly 30 years as a judge and prosecutor for the French Ministry of Justice. 

White & Case partner and vice chair Oliver Brettle said in a statement: ‘Dispute resolution, including white collar, remains a priority for the firm globally’. 

However, White & Case also saw the departure of corporate partner Alexander Malahias, who is leaving to co-lead the launch of Akin’s new Riyadh office. He will be based in Abu Dhabi until the firm receives its license to operate in Saudi Arabia. Akin’s expansion into Riyadh follows similar moves by firms like Kirkland, Latham, and Clifford Chance in the region. 

Back in London, Proskauer hired private funds partner Delphine Jaugey from Skadden, where she was counsel and head of secondaries. Jaugey’s practice focuses on representing clients in all types of LP-led and GP-led secondary transactions and liquidity solutions across Europe, the US, and Asia. 

The hire follows a series of recent lateral additions to Proskauer’s City office, including restructuring and special situations partner Clare Cottle from Akin, M&A partner Sylvain Dhennin from Hogan Lovells, and structured finance partner John Goldfinch from A&O Shearman. 

Also in London, Simmons & Simmons added insurance partners Ingrid Hobbs and Tim McCaw from Kennedys. The duo spent seven years at Kennedys after moving together from Mayer Brown in 2017. They specialise in insurance claims, supporting leading insurers and reinsurers on cross-border international matters.

The news comes shortly after Simmons’ London office underwent a management change earlier this month, with international head of disputes Emily Monastiriotis taking over as the firm’s new managing partner, succeeding long-serving leader Jeremy Hoyland.

The fallout from the collapse of Memery Crystal parent company RBG Holdings continued in the City, with London-based Lawrence Stephens hiring Leigh Sayliss as a director to launch its new tax offering. 

Earlier this month, Haynes Boone also brought on Memery Crystal corporate partner Lesley Gregory, following former colleagues like Nick Davis, who joined Haynes Boone last month as co-head of the London office. This came as part of a seven-lawyer hire from the now-defunct firm. 

In other moves, O’Melveny rehired antitrust and competition partner Stéphane Frank from Gibson Dunn in Brussels. After five years at Gibson Dunn, where he became partner in January 2024, Frank returns to O’Melveny, having previously served as counsel and associate earlier in his career. 

[email protected]

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Meal Deal Maker: LB lunches with top City partners – Willkie’s Gavin Gordon

In the first of Legal Business’s new Meal Deal Maker series, Gavin Gordon, chair of Willkie’s European private equity team, picks his favourite meal deal and discusses everything from his most exciting deal to his tips for future dealmakers.

He also shares his insights into why sometimes the best thing about being a deal lawyer can also be a negative, what he’s discovered about himself since stepping into management, and his love of a proper charcoal barbeque.

Check back in for more Meal Deal Maker interviews in the coming weeks – and get in touch* if you’re interested in taking part.

*top dealmakers only

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A&O Shearman, Freshfields and Hogan Lovells in crosshairs as Trump administration escalates DEI attacks

The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is investigating 20 of the biggest law firms in the world for discrimination as US President Donald Trump continues to ratchet up pressure on the legal profession to fall in line with his anti-diversity agenda.

The 20 Global 100 firms, which include revenue leaders Kirkland & Ellis and Latham & Watkins and magic circle duo Freshfields and A&O Shearman (see full list below), have each received a letter addressed from EEOC acting chair Andrea Lucas in relation to their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies.

The letters ask for expansive information on all applicants for jobs at the firms since 2019, including name, sex, race, phone number, email address and the law school they were hired from.

For successful applicants, the letters also request details including date hired, compensation, tuition repayment assistance, title, date of promotion, and office location.

The firms have until 15 April to comply with the requests.

The EEOC says that the investigations have come as a result of ‘concerns that some firms’ employment practices, including those labelled or framed as DEI, may entail unlawful disparate treatment in terms, conditions, and privileges of employment, or unlawful limiting, segregating, and classifying based on race, sex, or other protected characteristics, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII)’.

This latest escalation comes after the Trump administration fired the opening shot in its battle with global law firms over DEI with a 6 March executive order entitled ‘Addressing Risks from Perkins Coie LLP’.

In addition to targeting US firm Perkins Coie over its work for US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016, the order directed the EEOC to ‘review the practices of representative large, influential, or industry leading law firms for consistency with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964’, and to coordinate with the federal attorney general and state attorneys general to investigate the practices of such firms who do business with the federal government ‘for compliance with race-based and sex-based non-discrimination laws’.

This was followed a week later by a similar presidential order targeting Paul Weiss, revoking the firm’s security clearances and stating that the elite US firm ‘discriminates against its own employees on the basis of race and other categories prohibited by civil rights laws’.

The order – which began by asserting that ‘global law firms have for years played an outsized role in undermining the judicial process and in the destruction of bedrock American principles’ – continued: ‘Along with nearly every other large, influential, or industry leading law firm, [Paul Weiss] makes decisions around “targets” based on race and sex.  My administration is committed to ending such unlawful discrimination perpetrated in the name of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” policies.’

While the law firms targeted have been largely silent, associates from a raft of top firms have added their names to an open letter coordinated by third-year Skadden finance associate Rachel Cohen.

The letter states: ‘We call on our employers, large American law firms, to defend their colleagues and the legal profession by condemning this rapid purge of ‘partisan actors,’ a group that seems to be synonymous with those the president feels have wronged him. Our politics and feelings about the industry and its path forward are varied. But we are united in our condemnation of the administration’s intimidation tacts, viewpoint discrimination, and attempts to weaponize the executive [branch] against the rule of law.’

‘Our hope was that our employers, some of the most profitable law firms in the world, would lead the way’, it continues. ‘That has not yet been the case, but it still very much can be. It is easy to be afraid of being the first to speak. We are removing that barrier; we are speaking. Now it is our employers’ turn.’

Perkins Coie has since filed a legal challenge to the order issued against it, and is being represented by Washington DC firm Williams & Connolly.

Complete list of firms targeted:

  • A&O Shearman
  • Debevoise & Plimpton
  • Cooley
  • Freshfields
  • Goodwin Procter
  • Hogan Lovells
  • Kirkland & Ellis
  • Latham & Watkins
  • McDermott Will & Emery
  • Milbank
  • Morgan Lewis
  • Morrison Foerster
  • Perkins Coie
  • Reed Smith
  • Ropes & Gray
  • Sidley Austin
  • Simpson Thacher
  • Skadden
  • White & Case
  • WilmerHale

[email protected]

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Kirkland & Ellis surges ahead as revenue hits $8.8bn and PEP jumps 16%

Kirkland & Ellis wrecking ball

Kirkland & Ellis put its topline turnover up by 22% to a total of $8.8bn – an increase of $1.6bn on the $7.2bn the firm posted last year, and more than double last year’s annual growth rate of 10%.

Profit per equity partner (PEP) was also up by more than 16%, to $9.25m from just under $8m last year, with revenue per lawyer (RPL) up more than 12% to $2.3m from just over $2m last year.

The firm achieved these increases while ending 2024 with higher numbers of equity partners, non-equity partners, and total lawyers – up more than 6% to 573, up nearly 14% to 1,103, and up 9% to 3,828 respectively.

The bump to profitability was evident across other metrics, with average compensation for all lawyers up 11% to $3.7m, and net income to equity partners up nearly 24% to over $5.3bn.

The revenue increase means that Kirkland has more than doubled its turnover in the last five years, up nearly 112% from the $4.15bn reported in 2020’s Global 100 table.

Kirkland continued to expand around the world in 2024, building on its 2023 Riyadh launch with the opening of a new office in Frankfurt last summer, its 20th overall and its second in Germany. The office was established with the hire of Latham corporate department regional chair Tobias Larisch, and now has a total of five partners, as well as eight associates.

The firm continued to build momentum into 2025, opening in Philadelphia with the hire of Skadden litigator and trial lawyer Allison Brown, who joined alongside fellow litigation partners Jessica Davidson and Christopher Cox in New York and Geoffrey Wyatt and Nina Rose in Washington DC.

After a series of high-profile departures to Paul Weiss in London that began in summer 2023, Kirkland also overhauled its exit terms last year, introducing the ability to withhold accrued compensation from departing partners, reducing the notice period for exiting partners from 120 days to 60, and cutting the time leavers will have to wait for capital to be repaid from 12 months to three.

[email protected]

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Revolving Doors: Paul Hastings lands Kirkland M&A heavyweight as Clifford Chance adds laterals in New York

New York City, US, cityscape

Leading this week’s high-profile moves, Paul Hastings strengthened its corporate M&A practice with the hire of Eric Schiele from Kirkland & Ellis in New York. Schiele, who joins as global co-chair of M&A, brings extensive expertise in big-ticket M&A and public company board and special committee advisory work.

‘Eric is one of the most respected and accomplished M&A attorneys in the US and globally. His addition marks a major leap forward in strengthening our public company M&A platform,’ said firm chair Frank Lopez in a statement.

Also in the Big Apple, Clifford Chance expanded its global financial markets team with the addition of Joanna Nicholas as a partner, enhancing the firm’s collateralized loan obligations (CLO) capabilities in the US. Nicholas arrives from Mayer Brown, bringing over two decades of experience advising collateral managers, arrangers, and investors on new issue CLOs, resets, refinancings, and complex financings.

The firm also added Bryan Luchs as a partner to its corporate M&A practice in New York. Previously at White & Case for 12 years, Luchs has nearly 30 years’ experience advising acquirers, targets, boards of directors, and investment banks on complex domestic and cross-border deals.

This news comes after partner Gianluca Bacchiocchi rejoined Clifford Chance earlier this month, returning to the firm’s global financial markets team following a four-year stint at Latham.

In London, Proskauer hired restructuring and special situations partner Clare Cottle from Akin. Cottle’s practice covers cross-border and domestic financial restructurings, special situations funding, and complex direct loans.

‘Clare’s expertise aligns perfectly with our strategic vision to own the life cycle of private credit. Her proven track record will be invaluable in driving opportunities in restructuring and special situations financing work,’ said firm chair Tim Mungovan in a statement.

Cottle’s arrival follows a series of finance hires at Proskauer, including Philip Bowden and Megan Lawrence in July, and Jake Keaveny and Courtland Tisdale in September last year.

Fried Frank hired Sidley Austin UK tax practice head Oliver Currall as a partner in its London office. With experience advising across UK and international tax structuring, Currall, who also served as co-head of Sidley’s European tax group, makes the move after nine years at Sidley, which he joined in 2016 after making partner at Kirkland in 2014.

Meanwhile, Gibson Dunn bolstered its real estate practice group with the addition of Mark Manson-Bahr. Previously global head of real estate finance at A&O Shearman, Manson-Bahr advises senior bank and mezzanine investment bank clients on investment and development real estate finance transactions across all asset classes in Europe.

This follows other recent laterals for Gibson Dunn’s City office, including Sullivan & Cromwell finance and restructuring duo Presley Warner and Chris Howard last month.

Elsewhere in real estate, Cripps expanded its commercial real estate team with the hire of Adam Carney from Pinsent Masons in London. Carnet, who led Pinsents’ repurposing and retrofitting group, has extensive experience in high-value and complex development, investment, and asset management transactions, aligning with Cripps’ focus on sustainable projects and future-proofing real estate portfolios.

Clyde & Co added to its white-collar crime and sanctions team with the hire of Sam Tate as global head of regulatory and investigations. Tate joins from RPC, where he was global head of white-collar crime and compliance and co-head of the firm’s Middle East operations. His expertise spans financial crime investigations, regulatory matters, and crisis management, particularly in the infrastructure, energy, and technology sectors.

He joins alongside Toby Lamarque, Robert Semp, and Osama Al Jayousi, who move from RPC as senior associate, associate, and consultant, respectively.

Further afield, Norton Rose Fulbright expanded its banking and finance team in Hong Kong with the hire of debt capital markets partner Jessica Li from Ashurst. Li brings experience advising Chinese and international financial institutions, as well as corporate entities, on debt capital markets transactions in the Greater China region.

Jones Day was also active in Hong Kong, hiring corporate partner Frank Voon from K&L Gates.

In Paris, Ropes & Gray launched a new office with the hire of a three-partner team from Clifford Chance: private equity partner Fabrice Cohen will join as office managing partner alongside acquisition finance expert Thierry Arachtingi and private capital transactions specialist Emmanuel Mimin. They are joined by a team of counsel and associates, bringing experience in private equity, infrastructure, banking, and finance transactions.

‘Ropes & Gray is a global leader in private capital and strategic M&A,’ said Cohen in a statement. ‘We look forward to building upon the firm’s first-class reputation across some of the currently most active sectors in private capital and strategic M&A, such as healthcare and life sciences, technology, infrastructure, and more.’

[email protected]

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Travers to launch new base in Brussels alongside Paris wind-down

Travers Smith is opening a new base in Brussels in a rare instance of international expansion for the City firm.

The new office, which is set to open in April this year, will become the London firm’s only other international base, with the launch coming alongside the closure of its Paris office, which has been in operation since 1999.

In a statement, the firm said there will be no redundancies and that all staff currently working in Paris ‘will be treated as part of the firm’s London office’.

The new Brussels base will be led by the firm’s head of competition Stephen Whitfield and partner Nigel Seay – who previously led the competition practice before being succeeded by Whitfield in July last year.

Whitfield has been at Travers for 14 years, joining from Taylor Wessing in 2011 and making partner in 2016, while Seay has been at the firm since 2006, when he joined from Linklaters, before making partner a year later.

The duo will divide their time between Brussels and London, supported by the firm’s London-based competition bench. The firm is not set to make any additional hires for the opening, but expects to consider expansion in future.

The opening is an extremely uncommon instance of international expansion for Travers, a firm with a long-held strategy of focusing its efforts on its main London office. The firm’s former managing partner, David Patient, told LB in a 2019 interview that ‘the decision not to plant flags around the globe is part of our success.’

However, an on-the-ground presence in Brussels is seen as increasingly vital for firms with a strong competition practice. Other firms to have launched there recently include Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison,  which followed up its English law launch in 2023 with a move into Brussels last year.

Meanwhile, Slaughter and May and Macfarlanes, the firms most commonly mentioned alongside Travers due to their similar international approaches, both have outposts in Brussels. Slaughters has been in Brussels since 2007, while Macfarlanes opened a base there in 2017 after poaching a three-strong competition team from King & Wood Mallesons.

The international expansion marks a busy March for Travers. The firm has recently welcomed funds specialist John Daghlian, a former O’Melveny and Akin partner who has come on board as a senior consultant to the asset management group; as well as Jeremy Dennison, who is returning to the firm as a partner in the private equity and financial sponsors group, following a seven-year stint as general counsel at mid-market private equity firm Livingbridge.

Dennision had previously spent five years as an associate at the firm and almost three years as a senior associate in two separate stints between 2007 and 2018.

Travers has been through a period of upheaval in recent years, with 17 partners departing during 2023 and 2024, although the firm’s most recent financial results saw the firm break the £200m barrier for the first time, with profit per equity partner increasing by 18% from £1.07m to £1.3m.

Managing partner Edmund Reed, whose second three-year term as managing partner begins in July this year, acknowledged the recent disruption in an interview with LB last year, but expressed confidence in the firm’s future direction, asserting that ‘external noise had calmed down’ and that the firm’s partners were ‘aligned and pushing together’.

The firm is also set to move into new London offices in Stonecutter Court in early 2026.

[email protected]

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Reed Smith breaks $1.5bn for the first time as London revenue grows by 15%

Reed Smith has hit a key milestone as global revenue hit $1.5bn, up just over 5% from last year’s figure of $1.43bn. PEP, meanwhile, increased by nearly 14% to $1.8m from $1.6m.

London, the firm’s largest office, enjoyed a stellar year with revenue up more than 15% to $247m, while revenue per lawyer surged nearly 30% to $946,720.

The uptick in London revenue represented a turnaround from last year’s 6% drop from $228.8m in 2022 to $214.4m in 2023.

The firm puts the London growth down to strategic investments in areas including private equity, corporate, finance and energy in 2023 and 2024. Gregor Pryor, Reed Smith’s Europe and Middle East managing partner also believes the firm’s move to a new London office in Blossom Yard (pictured) in early 2024 has had a positive effect.

‘We were well placed to capitalise on the uptick in deal activity in the second half of 2024,’ Pryor said in a statement. ‘Our London office’s recent move to Blossom Yard, coupled with our strategic focus on driving activity in our corporate and private equity practices through our industry strengths, brought renewed energy to the office.’

London hires in 2023 and 2024 include private credit partner Linn Mayhew, who joined in 2023 from McGuireWoods, and private equity partner Tom Whelan,  and energy partner Nina Howell, who joined in 2024 from McDermott Will & Emery and King & Spalding, respectively.

Reed Smith’s financial industry group led the firm’s industry groups in revenue, while its insurance recovery, litigation, managed care, entertainment and media, and bankruptcy/restructuring practice also enjoyed strong years.

‘Our clients are turning to us for complex, high-value work, and we’ve expanded the range of services we provide to meet their evolving business needs,’  said Casey Ryan, Reed Smith’s global managing partner. ‘We are building on the success of 2024 and have continued the momentum, recently opening offices in Atlanta and Denver.’

The firm’s headcount was down nearly 6% year-on-year, to 1,432 this year from 1,516 last year. The number of equity partners also decreased, to 270 from 276.

In 2025, however, the firm has already added 28 new partners around the world, with 26 in its new US offices in Atlanta and Denver. The remaining two additions are London equity capital markets partner Samantha Myers, who joined from Gowling WLG, and Washington DC finance partner Chris Buchanan, who joined from King & Spalding.

[email protected]

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Finding the right fit: the duo behind Davis Polk’s long-awaited London restructuring launch

With just 12 partners in London, Davis Polk’s approach to recruitment in the capital has been conservative to say the least. 

Until last year, the US firm had not made a London lateral hire since 2013. However, that all changed in 2024 with the additions of A&O Shearman private equity partner Gordon Milne and Luke McDougall, the former global co-head of finance at Paul Hastings.

Those hires, which were prompted by the acknowledgement of a need to scale up in London, were quickly followed by Sidley restructuring duo Mark Knight and Jifree Cader, who have joined to launch a new City offering for the firm.

For more, see ‘With an open checkbook, they’ll likely target top talent’ – Davis Polk London scale-up turns heads

The duo, who now co-head the European restructuring practice, told LB that the opportunity to build a practice from the ground up in London – in tandem with the firm’s top-tier US practice – was too good to turn down.   

‘This was a fantastic opportunity to launch a restructuring practice at an elite firm, and for us, this is the right move,’ says Knight. 

Cader and Knight joined Sidley in 2016 and 2019 respectively, after having previously worked together at Kirkland & Ellis. Before moving to Sidley, Knight also spent almost two years as general counsel at KKR-backed investment firm Pillarstone.   

‘While we had already built a practice together at Sidley, we feel we could build something even better at Davis Polk,’ adds Cader. ‘It was one of the last top-tier US law firms that hadn’t yet made a major entry into restructuring in London, which made it very attractive to us.’ 

It is understood that five Sidley associates are set to join Knight and Cader at Davis Polk, with one making the move up to counsel. 

The duo, who are both recognised as Legal 500 leading partners for restructuring, represent private equity firms, hedge funds, and other distressed debt and par investors. In 2023, they won the Restructuring Team of the Year award at the Legal Business Awards for their role advising China Fortune Land on the $4.96bn restructuring of offshore debt through an English scheme of arrangement. 

On the rationale for the move, market observers note that while Davis Polk’s restructuring practice has traditionally been more lender focused, Knight and Cader have had notable success with debtor side mandates in recent years,  advising Chinese real estate developer Sino Ocean on its English restructuring plan and Hong Kong scheme of arrangement, as well as acting for Sunac China Holdings on its $10.2bn offshore debt restructuring. 

Knight elaborates: ‘We’ve always had a diversified business, covering all the key stakeholders in a restructuring context, including senior and junior creditors, sponsors, strategics, as well as acting for debtors.

‘The balance of our practice has shifted year on year to match the evolving restructuring landscape and the opportunities that arose in the market and across the platform,’ he adds, while also noting that a number of their clients were already Davis Polk clients too. 

And Cader is bullish on their prospects for success. ‘Davis Polk launching a restructuring practice in London will be a major disruptive event,’ he predicts. ‘As we build and scale up, our goal is to drive that disruption and deliver on our ambitions.’ 

Views from the market are also largely positive, with Freddie Lawson, head of partner search at Montresor Legal, describing the pair as ‘the real deal’.

‘It’s a super impressive hire by Davis Polk,’ Lawson continues. ‘There’s a generational shift in the restructuring market, and Davis Polk have managed to land two guys who are the future.’ 

Finding the right fit 

The firm’s tier 1 US restructuring practice, which is led from New York by global co-heads Marshall Huebner and Damian Schaible, now comprises 13 partners, with the addition of Knight and Cader bringing global lawyer count to 80. 

Schaible told LB that discussions about expanding the restructuring team in London started roughly five years ago. 

‘A few years ago we went on a listening tour, speaking with our clients and contacts in London about their needs in European restructuring, and speaking with our partners in London to really understand the market,’ he says. ‘I probably flew back and forth 10 times over the past few years – we wanted to get it right.’   

While a considered recruitment policy is to be applauded, some in the market have questioned why the firm has taken longer than most US peers to make a move into the European restructuring scene, despite launching an English law practice over 13 years ago. 

‘Davis Polk could have launched their restructuring practice years ago – they had the backing and could have attracted plenty of key players,’ comments one London restructuring head at another US firm. ‘However, I think they were focused on finding the right fit, and they’ve found that in Jifree and Mark.’  

As Schaible explains, the hires of Knight and Cader will complement the firm’s other recent London laterals, who have joined a team led by Europe head and City M&A chief Will Pearce. With the latest additions, overall headcount in London is now up by over 25% on this time last year to move above 60. 

‘We already had a fantastic group of corporate lawyers in London – which is critical to a successful restructuring practice,’ Schaible asserts. ‘With the firm’s broad commitment to making significant additional investments in our London platform, particularly in finance and PE, this was the right time to launch our European practice.’ 

[email protected]

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International roundup: White & Case hits Weil for three-partner New York team while Reed Smith opens in Denver

New York City cityscape

Leading a busy week for high-profile moves in New York, White & Case raided Weil for a three-partner litigation team formed of Weil’s global co-head of litigation Jonathan Polkes, Stacy Nettleton, and Adam Banks.

Polkes is a first-chair trial lawyer, former federal prosecutor, with experience in high-profile securities, corporate and white collar disputes. He joins after 20 years at Weil.

Weil also saw the departure of its US patent litigation and life sciences head Edward Reines, who moved to Jones Day alongside IP litigator Derek Walter. Reines will be based in Silicon Valley, while Walter will be based in San Francisco.

‘Ed and Derek are extremely talented lawyers with a long list of achievements in high-stakes patent disputes in both jury and bench trials,’ said Anthony Insogna, leader of Jones Day’s intellectual property practice in a statement.

Back in New York, Gianluca Bacchiocchi rejoined Clifford Chance as a member of its global financial markets team following four years at Latham. Bacchiocchi brings nearly 27 years of experience representing sponsors, borrowers, lenders, issuers and underwriters in energy and infrastructure sector financings.

Linklaters hired M&A partner Vinita Sithipathy, who spent ten years at Freshfields before joining Mayer Brown as a partner last September. Her move marks the magic circle firm’s second major move in New York this year, following its hire of a four-partner litigation team in January.

Linklaters also made a major play on the transactional side with its January 2024 hire of a six-lawyer M&A team from legacy Shearman & Sterling led by former Shearman global managing partner George Casey.

Finally in New York, disputes boutique Pallas Partners hired a three-lawyer litigation team from Kasowitz Benson Torres. Partner Michael Hanin leads the team, which also includes partner Jill Forster and associate Andrew Breland. The hires bring  Pallas’s New York partner headcount to five, according to the firm’s website.

In Palo Alto, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett tapped Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati intellectual property trial partner Amy Candido, who joins as head of the firm’s intellectual property litigation practice and a member of the firm’s complex commercial litigation and crisis management groups.

Candido has experience litigating trade secret, patent, copyright, and other IP and data protection cases on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants. She makes the switch after three and a half years at Wilson Sonsini, following a 16-year stint at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and eight years as an associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore.

Elsewhere in the US, Reed Smith announced the opening of an office in Denver with 20 lawyers – 11 partners, three counsel, and six associates. The new office is the firm’s 20th in the United States and comes hot on the heels of the launch of its Atlanta office in January with a 15-partner team.

The office will be led by finance partner Jay Spader, who joins Reed Smith from US national firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, with corporate partners Brendan Leanos, Jason Larkin, and Chris Hand. Also joining the new office are emerging technologies partner Tyler Thompson from Greenberg Traurig; litigation partners Adam Massaro and Joyce Williams from Akerman; insurance recovery partners Chris Mosley and Brooke Yates from Foley Hoag; and real estate partner Camille Bacon-Schulte from Dentons. They will be joined at the new office by four current Reed Smith lawyers, including partner James Martin.

‘Our clients are enthusiastic about our presence in Denver. Like Atlanta, Denver is a vibrant, fast-growing market. This expansion is aligned with our growth strategy and builds on the strength and experience of our private equity, finance and technology teams,” said Casey Ryan, Reed Smith’s global managing partner in a statement.

Gunnercooke also strengthened its US footprint by opening a Chicago office with a five-partner team from FisherBroyles. The additions of partners Andrew Geier, Nicholas Isaacson, Kelley Smith, Randall Schwartz, and Shannon Geier will bolster the firm’s corporate, private equity, funds, finance, and transactional capabilities. The firm previously expanded into the US with a New York base in 2022.

In Hong Kong, Jones Day augmented its capital markets offering in Hong Kong with the appointment of Kirkland partner Ming Kong. He arrives after three years at Kirkland, having previously spent eight years as an associate at Skadden.

Kirkland’s Hong Kong office has seen a raft of recent departures, with partners Wang Shinong, Paul Quinn, and Gary Li all moving in 2025, to DLA, Herbert Smith Freehills, and Zhong Lun respectively.

In Paris, King & Spalding hired Vivien & Associés restructuring and insolvency proceedings department leader Laurent Assaya as a partner in its finance and restructuring practice group.

Finally, Bird & Bird expanded in Stockholm with the hire of patent litigator Wendela Hårdemark from Swedish IP boutique Westerberg & Partners.

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‘Define “having it all” on your own terms’ – White & Case’s Sonica Tolani on thriving in City law

For International Women’s Day, Sonica Tolani, an M&A partner at White & Case in London, discusses the importance of having open discussions and why invisible barriers still exist for women in law.

What do you most enjoy about practising law and M&A law specifically? 

I enjoy the collaborative nature of the work. It’s incredibly rewarding to bring together a diverse group of specialists to tackle complex transactions. Each deal is unique, presenting fresh challenges that keep the work intellectually stimulating. 

I also value the opportunity to build meaningful relationships. Working closely with associates, partners and, especially, clients allow us to truly understand their businesses and strategic objectives. There’s a great deal of satisfaction in crafting creative solutions that balance competing stakeholder interests. 

The energy and pace of deal environments is invigorating. It’s challenging, but when a deal is successful, it’s deeply rewarding. And there’s nothing quite like the feeling when clients want to work with you again on future deals. 

What’s been your most memorable deal and why? 

The US$8.6bn cross-border merger between Avast and Norton. This transaction stands out as a career-defining moment for me. 

One of the reasons it was so memorable is that I navigated its complexity while pregnant with my second child, which presented both personal and professional challenges. The deal required harmonising different regulatory frameworks across multiple jurisdictions, which was no small feat. 

Working with an exceptional team under intense pressure helped forge lasting professional relationships. Successfully closing the transaction shortly before going on maternity leave made it an even more significant milestone, marking a pivotal point in both my career and personal life. 

What’s been your toughest professional moment and what did you learn from it? 

Learning to balance work and motherhood after having my children was a challenging transition and I often had to remind myself that I wasn’t failing and that it was perfectly fine to lean on others for support. 

One key lesson I learned during this time is the importance of putting your hand up and asking for help. It’s crucial to recognise that you don’t have to do everything on your own. I also realised that we can be our own worst critics, often assuming we’re not doing enough when, in reality, we are managing more than we give ourselves credit for. 

What are the top three skills you need to succeed in M&A law? 

Effective communication is crucial because you need to synthesise advice across various practice areas and present it coherently to clients. Being able to convey complex information in an understandable way is key. 

Strategic time management is another essential skill. On a micro level, this means demonstrating cost consciousness, while on a macro level it involves maintaining crucial deal momentum. Balancing these aspects ensures that the transaction progresses smoothly. 

Lastly, risk anticipation and mitigation are vital. It’s important to look beyond immediate legal issues to understand the broader commercial implications and prepare clients for potential roadblocks before they become problems. This proactive approach helps in navigating the complexities of M&A transactions effectively. 

How much progress has been made for women in law since you started your career? 

Since I started my career, there has been significant progress for women in law, marked by both tangible metrics and cultural shifts. For example, nearly 50% of the White & Case lawyers promoted to partner in London over the past five years have been women, and White & Case elected its first female chair in 2023. These milestones reflect a growing recognition of women’s contributions at the highest levels. 

Culturally, I’ve noticed more inclusive practices that accommodate family commitments whenever possible. There’s also greater recognition of diverse career paths, which helps in fostering an inclusive environment. 

However, progress varies across the profession.  It’s important to note that these advances haven’t happened automatically; they’ve often begun with frank conversations and require continuous attention to maintain and build upon the progress made. 

What still needs to improve and what’s holding it back? 

There are still areas that need improvement. One key area is the need for more nuanced support systems that address the different challenges women face at various stages of their careers. 

Women often hesitate to voice their concerns for fear of being labelled ‘difficult’ or less committed. This hesitation can prevent important issues from being addressed. 

Too many assumptions are made about what women lawyers need instead of directly asking them. Engaging in open dialogue is crucial to understanding and meeting their actual needs. 

Another challenge is the persistence of formal and informal systems that reward traditional work patterns, which can create invisible barriers. For example, industry-wide expectations around long hours in the office or the perception that being constantly available equates to commitment can disadvantage those with family or other outside commitments. These systems need to evolve to recognise and reward different ways of working that are equally effective. 

What advice do you have for aspiring young female lawyers who want to get to where you are? 

Start by defining ‘having it all’ on your own terms, not according to others’ expectations. It’s important to understand what success means to you personally. 

Cultivate your professional tribe: seek out mentors for guidance, peers for support and sponsors who will advocate for your advancement. Building these relationships is crucial for your growth and success. 

Don’t hesitate to ask questions or seek help when needed. Doing so demonstrates good judgment, not weakness. It’s a sign of strength to acknowledge when you need support. 

Develop resilience without becoming rigid. Professional growth often comes from navigating unexpected challenges, so it’s important to be adaptable. 

Finally, recognise that your career will evolve through different phases. What works at one stage may need to change at another. Being open to this evolution and willing to adjust as necessary will help you maintain balance and continue progressing in your career. 

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‘Eventually you have to learn to trust yourself’ – Simpson Thacher’s Deborah Gruen on succeeding in law

Deborah Gruen, a former US Paralympic swimmer, now funds partner at Simpson Thacher in New York, reflects on the key skills needed to thrive in corporate law and the importance of setting personal goals

Why did you decide to become a funds lawyer?   

I was an economics major in college and was always comfortable with numbers. I found that corporate law, and particularly being a private funds lawyer, married together what I had loved about economics with being a lawyer.

I also like that corporate law is fundamentally about building a product where both sides gain something. I prefer that to a situation where you are constantly trying to tear the other side down. And, because you work with clients on a long-term basis, you really get to know them; there are days that I think some clients know more about me than my own family!  Lastly, I find that teamwork is critical in your day-to-day tasks. I enjoy talking to my colleagues across offices about the issues I’m facing and have found that collaboration leads to a far better product.  

What is your favourite thing about your job? 

 The opportunity to develop and test out new ideas!  It’s a privilege to be able to work with the clients and the other lawyers at Simpson Thacher because not only are they incredibly creative and smart, but they also are not afraid to take risks and try new things.  What starts out as a test case one day becomes the latest trend in private equity funds the next year. 

What is your proudest professional moment? 

Making partner at Simpson Thacher.  I have always looked at the partners in the firm as rockstars, and especially the partners in the funds group.  So, to be considered one of them, was – and continues to be –  an honour.  

What is a standout deal you’ve worked on? 

Helping Stonepeak with its first continuation vehicle for the Cologix recapitalisation. That was the first continuation vehicle I worked on and was the first time that I was so exposed to both deal-level and fund-level issues.  Often, we help in fundraising and answer a small handful of questions on specific investments, but in the continuation vehicle context, everything happens at the same time.  

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve overcome in your career?   

Learning to be confident. I’m tiny and literally have to look up to everyone else.  Even though nowadays people can’t normally see you because you’re on the phone or zoom, leading a call can be daunting.  But eventually you have to learn to trust yourself. 

What’s been your worst professional moment and what did you learn from it? 

Everyone has bad moments and for me they often come from taking on too much.  I’ve had to learn to delegate more and trust others, even if it means that they do something differently than I would have done it.  

What are the key skills you need to succeed in commercial law at a leading New York firm?  

Most importantly, you need to work hard.  It’s very similar to sports in that you have to practice and get in the reps. The other key skill is learning to work with others. My peers at Simpson Thacher are the most valuable resources that I have and learning to ask others for help, and in turn being available when they ask you questions, helps everyone. Given the amount of institutional knowledge our firm has, it’s very likely that when you see an issue for the first time, someone else has already found a way to address it.  

What advice do you have for aspiring young female lawyers who want to get to where you are? 

I think it’s important to set goals. When I swam, my goal was to medal.  When I started working at Simpson Thacher, I wanted to make partner.  I have found that setting goals helps keep me focused.

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Latham & Watkins revenue hits $7bn high as PEP surges 30%

Latham & Watkins saw global revenue surge by 23% in 2024 to a record high of  $7bn, with the growth in fee income helping profit per equity partner (PEP) soar by almost 30% to surpass $7m.

The firm’s turnover climbed by $1.3bn during the last calendar year to a new high of $7bn, up from $5.7bn the previous year. The increase is significantly more than the 11% growth Latham posted last year and means that the firm has more than doubled its revenue over the last seven years.

PEP hit $7.1m in 2024, up from $5.5m in 2023 – more than double the $3.5m recorded in the 2019 Global 100 table.

Revenue per lawyer (RPL) climbed 18%, from $1.65m to $1.95m, fueled by strong double-digit growth across key practice areas, including M&A, private equity, capital markets, banking, complex commercial litigation, and antitrust & competition.

Commenting on the firm’s performance, chair and managing partner Rich Trobman (pictured above) said: ‘We were at the centre of many of the year’s landmark deals and high profile cases, helping our clients seize opportunities, navigate challenges, and stay ahead of market shifts.’

While Latham does not disclose office-specific revenue, it is understood that London brought in an estimated $850m in turnover, with year-on-year growth up slightly more than the firm-wide average at 25%.

In a conversation with Legal Business on his first 100 days as City office head, Latham’s London managing partner Ed Barnett described the office as ‘driven, ambitious, and innovative’, emphasizing M&A, private equity, leveraged finance, capital markets, restructuring, litigation, and regulatory as key areas of focus.

The strong City performance comes despite the firm seeing a number of departures. High-yield partners Scott Colwell and Patrick Kwak left for Sidley, in October, following a five-partner sponsor-side leveraged finance team exit in August, led by former London managing partner Jayanthi Sadanandan and Sam Hamilton.

However the firm has continued to invest in talent, with total headcount up nearly 4% year-on-year, from 3,450 lawyers in 2023 to 3,584 last year. London has been a particular growth area, expanding by close to 50% over the last five years.

Notable London additions in 2024 included white-collar specialist Pamela Reddy, recruited to help build out the City litigation practice, and a banking and finance trio – Jonathan Brownson, Joydeep Choudhuri, and Prue Criddle – from Cahill Gordon & Reindel’s London office.

Further reinforcing its UK presence into 2025, the firm also welcomed banking partner Hugh O’Sullivan in January as well as tech partner Sophie Goossens and tax partner Serena Lee in February.

The firm also reformed its pay structure to better reward top performers, introducing a super points tier in reforms approved by partners last July. Latham introduced two additional tiers of 1,300 points and 1,700 points on top of its core modified lockstep of 350-900 points, as well as a bonus pool of up to 15% of its profits available for discretionary division among partners.

Fourteen partners worldwide are understood to sit on the first additional tier at 1,300 points, with a further eight now on the maximum 1,700 points. Two partners in London – including chair Richard Trobman – are understood to be at the top level. All of the remaining super pointers are based in the US.

‘We remain dedicated to serving as the go-to advisor for our clients. Our commitment to client service, excellence, and teamwork continues to drive us forward as we pursue our ambitious goals this year and into the future,’ Trobman concluded.

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Climate change and collective proceedings: what businesses need to know

Collective proceedings are a longstanding mechanism for bringing claims in the US and Australia. They are now a feature of many legal systems around the world, including in the EU, England and Wales, and, most recently, Scotland.

Collective proceedings are typically used by multiple claimants who have the same or similar ground or grounds of claim against the same party, to seek redress for their losses.

Some recent high-profile examples of collective proceedings include claims against Apple for allegedly selling defective iPhones, Google for allegedly using unlawful tactics to block competition, and Amazon for alleged misleading advertising surrounding its Prime subscription service. Often, the loss suffered by each individual within the claimant group will be too small to make it economically viable for them to bring the claim alone. However, the combined loss of all claimants is normally significant, which makes it economically attractive and cost-effective to bring the claim collectively as a group.

Given the economies of scale that can be achieved by collectively pursuing a larger claim on behalf of a group, these proceedings will usually be attractive to external litigation funders. They will often finance the collective proceedings, in return for a proportion of any award of compensation/financial settlement agreed.

In this way, collective proceedings enable access to justice for claims that would not otherwise be pursued. This removes a significant hurdle for wronged consumers seeking compensation, but it also exposes businesses to claims they would not ordinarily face.

As more and more jurisdictions provide for collective proceedings, the number of such actions is increasing rapidly worldwide.

Climate change litigation

Also on the rise in recent years is climate change litigation – court cases against public bodies and corporations whose actions have allegedly had an adverse impact on the prevention of climate change – as concern around climate change continues to build globally. According to the UN, the number of climate change court cases initiated more than doubled between 2017 and 2020. This uptick has seen no sign of abating.

Recent years have seen a flurry of claims brought by environmentalist groups against their national governments, either for failing to achieve environmental targets they have set to tackle climate change, or for failing to set environmental targets that are ambitious enough. Since 2019, the Swiss, Dutch, and German governments have all been the subject of successful claims. Similar claims are ongoing in European jurisdictions against multinational oil corporations.

Use of collective proceedings to pursue climate claims

The growth in climate change claims brought by environmentalist groups against governments and corporations indicates that people are minded to hold powerful bodies to account when it comes to climate change. It is unsurprising, therefore, that, in jurisdictions with established collective proceedings procedures, climate change proceedings are emerging as a key theme.

The US has a history of collective proceedings (known there as ‘class actions’) dating back to the 19th century. No jurisdiction is more useful to those with younger collective proceedings regimes for predicting future trends, a current one being class actions against corporations for alleged ‘greenwashing’ practices (misrepresenting or exaggerating ethical and environmental credentials).

Starbucks and Colgate are both presently facing class actions for alleged ‘greenwashing’. The former, raised in the District of Columbia, relates to Starbucks advertising its tea and coffee as ‘ethical’ despite allegedly being sourced from farms accused of human rights violations. The latter, raised in California, relates to assertions by Colgate that its plastic toothpaste tubes are ‘recyclable’, when it is alleged, in reality, almost no recycling facilities in the US accept them.

The future of climate change collective proceedings in the UK

The viability of these types of claims in the UK will be determined by the outcome of the cases raised in the US, and in other jurisdictions with developed collective proceedings regimes. In Australia, a ‘greenwashing’ class action is currently pending against a major gas company, Santos, after it allegedly misleadingly claimed to produce ‘clean fuel’.

Central to the viability of these types of claims will be whether litigation funders are incentivised to back them.

The size of the claimant group is a relevant factor in securing funding. The bigger the claimant group, the larger the compensation payout if the claim is successful. Given the widespread impact of climate change, and the public awareness and activism in this space, claimant groups in these cases could be huge.

The likelihood of very large claimant groups is even greater where claims are brought under ‘opt-out’ procedure. Under ‘opt-in’ procedure, which is currently used in the UK (apart from for collective proceedings brought in the Competition Appeal Tribunal), claimants are required to ‘sign up’ to be part of the claimant group. Representative claims, a type of collective proceedings in England and Wales which involves one or more claimants raising a claim as representatives of other claimants with the same interest, are also raised by way of ‘opt-in’ procedure. Claimant groups under ‘opt-out’ procedure are typically larger, because anyone who meets the class requirements will become part of the group, without needing to actively ‘sign up’. A move to ‘opt-out’ in the UK is expected, with Scotland’s legislative framework already providing for this approach.

Climate change collective proceedings have the potential to give rise to very large claimant groups (especially if brought in jurisdictions that use ‘opt-out’ procedure), and, therefore, will attract significant awards of compensation if successful. This presents a potentially lucrative opportunity for litigation funders that choose to back them, as well as a significant financial exposure to the entities they are brought against.

UK governments (Westminster, and devolved governments in Scotland and Wales with responsibility for environmental matters), and corporations (especially those operating in sectors such as oil and gas and transport) should view collective proceedings relating to climate change as a relevant legal and financial risk.

Craig Watt is a partner and solicitor advocate and leads the corporate disputes practice at Brodies.