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Latham taps A&O Shearman for three-partner London finance hire

Latham & Watkins has hired three partners from A&O Shearman, including two real estate finance partners and one structured finance partner, the firm announced today (6 January).

David Oppenheimer, global head of A&O Shearman’s real estate finance practice, is set to join Latham alongside David Varne, who has been a partner at A&O Shearman since 2021.

Both partners are key members of the firm’s real estate finance practice, which is ranked in tier 1 in Legal 500.

Also making the move is Lucy Oddy, a leading partner in Legal 500’s London securitisation ranking, who rejoins Latham after a decade at A&O Shearman.

Between them they bring decades of experience advising lenders, private equity firms, companies, and other financial investors on complex, cross-border real estate finance and structured finance transactions.

Oppenheimer has spent more than two decades at A&O Shearman, where he has developed a highly-regarded practice acting for private equity funds and other real estate lenders across the UK and Europe. Varne brings experience advising banks and debt funds on a range of traditional and non-traditional finance banking products.

Oddy advises funds, PE houses and financial institutions across a range of structured finance transactions, with a particular focus on real estate.

Latham chair and managing partner Rich Trobman said: ‘We are delighted to welcome David and David to our team and to have Lucy rejoin us. Each partner is exceptionally talented in their field, and their track record and deep sector knowledge have earned them a reputation as being among the best.’

‘Adding both Davids and Lucy is another significant development for our London practice,’ added London office managing partner Ed Barnett. ‘With years of leadership under their belts, they are exceptional additions to our team in the City.’

He continued: ‘We are uniquely positioned to guide private equity firms, investment banks, investors, growth companies, and PLCs through their most complex, high-value transactions, and adding this group to our platform adds even more heft to our capabilities.’

The moves follow the departure of structured finance duo Franz Ranero and James Smallwood, who left A&O Shearman for Latham in London last spring.

They also come after Mark Manson-Bahr, former global head of real estate debt finance at legacy A&O, left the firm last year – moving to Gibson Dunn in June.

Legal Business previously reported that there had been more than 170 partner exits from A&O Shearman since the Allen & Overy-Shearman & Sterling merger was announced in May 2023.

A&O Shearman has also made a number of hires globally. In December it announced the addition of Fried Frank partner Jan Sysel to lead its US fund finance practice in New York.

Earlier last month, it also announced the London hire of Skadden executive compensation lawyer Louise Batty as a partner. In November it hired Weil capital markets counsel Pierre Brulé, who splits his time between London and Paris, as a partner.

For its part, Latham hired real estate PE partner Jeremy Kenley, who joined from Gibson Dunn in November, as part of its real estate play.

Yen Sum, the global chair of Latham’s private capital practice, previously told LB that the firm’s long-term, global strategy for its private capital business is built around attracting ‘the best talent operating in key financial and capital markets, products, and asset classes.’

John Coburn will now lead A&O Shearman’s real estate finance practice which contains at least two other partners: Peter Mailer and Anneliese Foster. Chris Woolf and Lisa Brill will continue to lead the global real estate practice, the firm added.

‘We thank David, Lucy and David for the contribution they have made to the firm and wish them all the best for the future,’ a spokesperson for A&O Shearman said.

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Linklaters chief leads legal figures recognised in New Year Honours List

Linklaters global managing partner Paul Lewis is among a number of senior legal names to have been recognised in the 2026 New Year Honours list, alongside former Law Society president I. Stephanie Boyce and a pair of former Freshfields corporate partners.

Lewis, who has been managing partner at Linklaters since 2021, was awarded an OBE for his charitable work for the ‘Seeing is Believing’ programme in Newport, South Wales.

In a LinkedIn post announcing his OBE, Lewis said he would recommend the Seeing is Believing programme to all CEOs, describing it as ‘genuinely life-changing’. The initiative, which is led by the non-profit organisation Business in the Community, aims to bring together business leaders with disadvantaged communities to support economic growth.

A Linklaters lifer, Lewis was last June re-elected as managing partner and will serve in the role until 2029.

Meanwhile, Boyce was awarded a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to the legal profession, to diversity, and to access to justice.

Boyce became the first person of colour and sixth woman to become Law Society president in 2021, holding the role until October 2022.

She recently joined the board of The Solicitors’ Charity, while last year she also joined the judging panel for the Legal Business Awards.

In a letter to colleagues and friends, Boyce said that the award reflected ‘the collective endeavour, resolve, and courage of those who have stood alongside me.’

Further honours were handed out to former Freshfields corporate partners Barry O’Brien and Mark Rawlinson.

O’Brien, who left Freshfields in 2014, received his OBE for services to the law, cricket and charity. He previously served as chairman of Glamorgan County Cricket Club between 2011 and 2018, prior to his appointment as chair of the England and Wales Cricket Board in 2021.

Meanwhile, Rawlinson was awarded his OBE for his work as a non-executive director at the Ministry of Justice.

The former corporate partner, who served as London head before leaving the magic circle firm in 2016 to join Morgan Stanley as chair of UK investment banking, has held a number of roles since his departure, including chairing the Rugby Players Association board.

Judges also featured in the 2026 awards, with three former judges of European courts being honoured on the international list for their service and a further three recognised domestically.

They include Sir Ian Forrester KC, former White & Case partner and current member of Ampersand Advocates in Scotland, who received a knighthood.

He was recognised for his contribution to legal practice, writing and teaching in law, pro bono work and services to Franco-British legal relations. He previously served as a judge of the General Court of the European Union between 2015 and 2020.

Stable director Isla Davie KC said: ‘Sir Ian Forrester KC has a formidable reputation as one of our leading legal minds. His stellar career and the regard in which he is held in the legal world are testament to that fact,’ adding ‘this really couldn’t have happened to a nicer person’.

Sir Christopher Vajda KC, who served on the European Court of Justice between 2012 and 2020 before returning to a role as a barrister and arbitrator at Monckton Chambers, received a knighthood for services to international law.

Tim Eicke KC was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) for his nine-year tenure at the European Court of Human Rights and his service to the protection of human rights in Europe. In September 2025 he returned to Essex Chambers to practise as a counsel and arbitrator.

In the UK, former Scottish judge Lady Rae KC was awarded a CBE for services to the law, to charity and to education in Scotland.

Other barristers recognised included Orlando Fraser KC of Four Stone Buildings, who received a CBE for work as chair of the Charity Commission for England and Wales, and former barrister David Stembridge KC, who was awarded an OBE for community work in Devon.

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Top US pair advise as Bridgepoint agrees to acquire KPMG spin-off Interpath

Simpson Thacher & Barlett and Latham & Watkins have claimed the lead roles as private equity house Bridgepoint looks to close a deal to acquire Interpath, a restructuring advisory firm, from H.I.G Capital.

Latham is advising Bridgepoint as the mid-market buyout shop has entered into exclusive negotiations to take a majority stake in a deal worth an estimated £800m. M&A partner Farah O’Brien is heading up the team.

Simpson Thacher is advising is the H.I.G fund responsible for Interpath, with a London-based team led by European M&A practice co-head James Howe and corporate partners Lucy Gillett and Alex Ward.

Milbank is acting as counsel to Interpath’s management with the team led by corporate partners James McClymont and Paul Buchan.

Restructuring outfit Interpath became independent after it was carved out of KPMG in 2021 and acquired by H.I.G., in a transaction that also saw Simpson Thacher advise H.I.G. It currently employs over 1,000 professionals across 12 countries.

Latham has a deep relationship with Bridgepoint. Last summer alone, the firm advised Bridgepoint on at least three deals, including its acquisitions of mydentist and Beekeeper, as well as Bridgepoint Credit’s partnership with Rezonate Music.

For its part, Simpson Thacher has also advised Bridgepoint on several deals in recent years, including on its 2023 acquisition of Energy Capital Partners for €57bn, with a team that also included London corporate partner Gillett.

In December, both Latham and Simpson Thacher advised as Bridgepoint acquired a team from leading secondaries platform Newbury. Simpson Thacher advised Bridgepoint, and Latham represented Apollo, which previously acquired Newbury’s parent company.

H.I.G.’s successful exit from its investment in Bridgepoint may mark a positive sign for the PE market. ‘There is a gradual increase in market confidence,’ one PE partner at a magic circle firm said before the new year. ‘A lot will depend on people seeing successful exits that give them confidence to start processes themselves.’

The sale is also further evidence of private equity’s interest in the professional services arena, as the sector looks for new vehicles to deliver returns, with the legal sector touted as a sought-after market.

Last year offshore firm Walkers partnered with PE house Vitruvian on a deal to co-invest in Walkers’ corporate services business, while DAC Beachcroft again began exploring a sale of its claims business.

McDermott Will & Schulte also expressed its willingness to explore private investment, while stressing that any such moves were at preliminary stage.

The Interpath deal is expected to close in Q2 or Q3 of this year, subject to regulatory approvals.

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Hot markets and mega-deals: M&A partners on 2025 trends and hopes for the new year

Despite a tumultuous first half of the year, as Trump’s tariffs shook global markets, a wave of mega-deals in H2 meant 2025 ultimately proved to be one of the best-ever years for M&A.

Total global M&A deal values rose 41% to hit $4.81trn, according to Mergermarket, and while global deal volumes dipped below 40,000, a record 70 $10bn-plus deals helped make the year the second-strongest on record for value, behind only 2021.

Unsurprisingly, the market volatility that unfolded after Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs in April did not set the stage for high levels of business confidence during H1.

However, as markets stabilised, M&A activity returned, providing corporate partners with a much more positive second half of the year. But with the new year starting with more geopolitical turmoil, are partners remaining positive? Or are they nervous about what’s in store for 2026?

Hot markets

As things stand, the new normal of unpredictability does not appear to be denting optimism among M&A partners for the new year.

White & Case UK public M&A head Patrick Sarch describes the current landscape as a ‘hot market.’

He says: ‘We’ve seen more competitive situations in 2024 and 2025 than in any year since 2016, pointing to a sustained period of heightened competition between bidders.’

‘We’re also seeing a major surge in strategic stake-building, something that hasn’t featured meaningfully for 10 to 15 years,’ he adds. ‘This combination of competing bidders and stake-building is a clear signal of a hot market and the importance of tactical agility.’

Slaughter and May corporate and M&A co-head Simon Nicholls (pictured) also has faith in the strength of markets going into the new year, saying: ‘There’s a lot of assets looking for a home, and you need to find homes for them.’

Gavin Davies, the global head of Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer’s M&A practice, adds that in the absence of heavily contested auctions, ‘the balance of power has continued its shift back towards buyers’.

‘Buyers are taking the time to test target businesses and derisk as thoroughly as possible through due diligence and price negotiation, and there is often more latitude for buyers to reposition deal terms substantially.’

On the recent surge in mega-deals, Davies believes activity has been driven in part by corporate leaders deciding the time was right to execute transformative deals long under evaluation, or that could no longer be delayed.

Slaughters’ Nicholls concurs, saying: ‘People’s psychological inclination to do deals has really been the key driver.’

Nicholls also notes how markets are now more resilient in the face of market upheaval. ‘The interesting thing in the past few years is how quickly people adapt to geopolitical blowups,’ he says. ‘Even with tariffs, you could have held off doing M&A for a lot longer than people did. There’s no way to price that risk and there’s no way to assess that risk, so people have adjusted to that and gotten used to the uncertainty.’

One standout statistic from the year’s M&A data is that while activity levels saw double-digit increases across many major EMEA markets (including 103% in the Middle East and 81% in Iberia) in the UK, deal volumes fell by 8%.

And for confidence to continue and make an impact on domestic markets, UK partners believe increasing macroeconomic stability remains of huge importance.

Ashurst corporate partner James Fletcher says: ‘If interest rates stabilise, both corporates and sponsors will deploy faster, especially where earnings resilience and cash conversion are clear.’

Taylor Wessing M&A and equity capital markets lawyer Andrew Edge adds: ‘Things are still coming through the door all the time, so we are positive for the new year – the variables are the geopolitical issues and the public equity markets.’

He continues: ‘There’s a much greater focus on passive investment in the public equity markets and while everything’s going up, that’s great. But if things start turning down, you can get into a downward spiral, and that’s one of the structural issues that the economy will face. If that happens, that could be pretty painful.’

High tech

One area partners all agree is not in any danger of slowing down is the technology sector, and the data underlines this, with global tech M&A values up 66% to $1.08trn, making it the top-performing sector by some distance.

Linklaters corporate partner Lisa Chang (pictured), UK tech sector co-head, underlines this. ‘Over the last year, we’ve seen activity pick up and tech continues to be one of the hottest sectors for global M&A.’

Edge also notes that venture capital investment is driving this space. ‘There are much larger fundraisings that are done in the UK with venture capital investors rather than on the public markets. That’s one big change in the market – VC investors have been putting a lot of money into technology companies.’

While enthusiasm about emerging technologies such as AI is driving much market optimism, the question of how tech will be regulated provides a note of caution,

As Chang says: ‘The appetite to do deals is there, but often the challenge will be getting the right valuation and navigating the increasingly complex regulatory environment.’

HSFK’s Davies agrees. ‘The global direction of travel remains more regulators, more areas of regulation, and the risk of compliance missteps as well as negative rulings. For M&A lawyers, the strategic planning for complex multi-filing, multi-jurisdictional processes can be busy workstreams in any significant deal.’

Freshfields corporate and M&A partner Kate Cooper strikes a positive note, observing that regulators are starting to become more business-friendly. She says: ‘We are seeing clearances coming through in a quicker timeframe than they were. We’re seeing the regulator, specifically the Competition and Markets Authority, being more front-footed about what they need and responsive to the parties, which is generally positive.’

‘Hopefully, we are going to continue to see that trend of a somewhat more pragmatic approach, with economically grounded assessments of anti-competitive effects, as opposed to focusing on quite novel theories of harm.’

Another sector experiencing similar growth and fierce regulation is defence, which Sarch identifies as another hot market. ‘In 2026, there is likely to be significantly higher government spending on defence, which could support growing M&A activity in this sector and related areas, driving increased cross-border investment flows, particularly from continental Europe.’

Nicholls also notes the rise in defence deals, but says: ‘I’d be surprised if you see mega-deals in the space, because it’s about maintaining national capability. You will see national champions, and then you’ll see cross-border collaboration – but it will be collaboration through joint contracts; maybe a joint venture or a joint build.’

Regardless of how the market shapes up, it’s clear that partners are excited for the year ahead.

Cooper (pictured) concludes: ‘We’ve seen the mega-deals come back, and I think there will continue to be those big, transformative deals where the parties are big enough to be more insulated from short-term macroeconomic headwinds.’

‘When you’re looking to transact, you look at two things. You look at the price and you look at the execution certainty, and those two issues are uppermost in a board’s mind when they’re considering the viability of a deal. I think we are closer than we have generally been over the last couple of years to having better certainty around getting deals done.’

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The most-read articles of 2025

2025 will be remembered as the year of mega-mergers, with a rush of huge deals rounding off a hectic 12 months for the legal industry. While Hogan Lovells Cadwalader, Winston Taylor and Ashurst Perkins Coie have dominated the headlines over the last month, there was plenty of other big news over the year.

Here, we round up the stories which resonated with our readers in 2025 – the year’s most-read articles on Legal Business.

Interviews

 

Features

Data

News

In-house

Lateral moves

Deals

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In-house moves: senior legal hires for Clearbank, the Charity Commission and VodafoneThree

ClearBank, the challenger bank launched by Worldpay founder Nick Ogden,  has hired Angela Roberts as group general counsel. Roberts is joining from global asset management firm Allspring Global Investments, where she has spent three and a half years as head of EMEA legal.

Roberts brings with her extensive in-house experience, having also previously held positions at Wells Fargo, the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential, among others. Roberts was appointed to the role on 1 December and replaces Philip House, who has moved into the role of senior policy adviser.

Of her move, Roberts commented: ‘I am excited to join ClearBank at such a transformative time for the business. The evolving regulatory environment across the UK and Europe presents both challenges and opportunities for innovation, and I look forward to working with the leadership team to support ClearBank’s ambition and help drive its next phase of growth.’

Elsewhere in the UK, The Charity Commission announced that former National Trust GC Jan Lasik is joining as director of legal and accountancy services. Lasik, who began his career in private practice, first at Allen & Overy and then at Skadden, joined the National Trust in 2018, before which he was deputy head of legal at the Bank of England. He will take on his new role in January next year.

Speaking of his appointment, Charity Commission Chief Executive, David Holdsworth said: ‘We were fortunate to attract an impressive pool of candidates in which Jan stood out. He brings a strong understanding of charity and wider law at a challenging time for the sector, and his experience, including working for an independent statutory regulator from his time at the Bank of England, will be of benefit as the Commission expands its casework staffing and explores the potential for technology solutions to meet increasing demand.’

Newly merged VodafoneThree has hired former Mishcon de Reya partner Alison Geary as head of litigation. Geary joins the telecoms giant from IBM, where she worked as senior counsel, EMEA investigations, regional leader.

Geary moved to IBM in mid-2024 from private practice, having spent two years as a white-collar crime and investigations partner at Mishcon, before which she was a counsel at WilmerHale.

Meanwhile, in the US, the newly departed Snap Inc GC Michael O’Sullivan is joining Berkshire Hathaway as senior vice president and general counsel. The multinational conglomerate announced that this is a new role within the company, which has primarily used external legal counsel in the past.

O’Sullivan, who will take up the role on 1 January, served as GC at messaging service Snap since 2017, having joined from American firm Munger Tolles & Olson, which has strong ties to Berkshire Hathaway. His appointment coincides with the retirement of long-serving CEO Warren Buffett.

Global investment firm Carlyle announced the retirement of long-term GC Jeffrey Ferguson. Ferguson has been in the top legal role since 1999 and will be retiring in 2026.

Carlyle CEO Harvey Schwartz said: ‘Jeff has made important contributions to Carlyle’s legal framework over more than two decades. As we begin the search for our next general counsel, we thank him for his service to the firm and appreciate his support during the transition.’

Insurance company insurance giant Howden US announced the appointment of Chris Aries as GC of its US retail broking and advisory business. Aires joins the group from the professional services firm Aon, where he spent the last 22 years in various senior legal positions and strategy roles.

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The biggest law firm mergers of all time

If it is voted through by partners, the Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader merger looks set to be the biggest law firm merger ever, based on revenue at the time of announcement, with combined turnover of $3.6bn. With the proposed union marking the third major law firm tie-up announced within the last month, LB takes a quick look back at the other deals that have defined the legal market.

Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling, 2024

Revenue Lawyers
Allen & Overy $2.8bn 2,900
Shearman & Sterling $837m 600

 

Until news of Hogan Lovells’ planned union with Cadwalader, A&O Shearman was the biggest legal merger of all time, based on combined revenues of $3.4bn at the time of announcement. The combined firm posted turnover of $3.7bn for its first full financial year, putting it into the world’s top five. The deal came five years after A&O’s earlier efforts to merge with O’Melveny & Myers hit the buffers, and 25 years after the last major US-magic circle tie-up, when Clifford Chance merged with Rogers & Wells.

McDermott Will & Emery and Schulte Roth & Zabel, 2025

Revenue Lawyers
McDermott Will & Emery $2.23bn 1,340
Schulte Roth & Zabel $619m 365

 

Chicago-headquartered McDermott Will & Emery tied up with New York’s Schulte Roth & Zabel to create McDermott Will & Schulte in 2025’s merger mania. The deal was put together in double quick time, with negotiations over the $2.8bn tie-up – led on the McDermott side by chair Ira Coleman (pictured) – taking just three months.

Ashurst and Perkins Coie, 2025

Revenue Lawyers
Ashurst $1.319bn 2,137
Perkins Coie $1.259bn 1,064

 

For many years, the accepted wisdom on mega-mergers has been that the ideal is a merger of equals, and Ashurst and Perkins Coie are about as close as they come in revenue terms. The combination of Anglo-Australian firm Ashurst with Seattle-headquartered Perkins, led by Paul Jenkins and Bill Malley (pictured), is projected to create a $2.7bn firm.

Clifford Chance, Rogers & Wells and Punder Volhard Weber & Axster, 2000

Revenue Lawyers
Clifford Chance £587m 2,000
Rogers & Wells $220m 400
Punder Volhard Weber & Axster n/a 300

 

Clifford Chance’s tripartite merger with US firm Rogers & Wells and Germany’s Punder Volhard Weber & Axster, which went live on New Year’s Day in 2000, was an early indicator of how the legal profession would globalise in the 21st century. Adjusted for inflation, the merged firm’s combined revenues of £937m equate to $2.6bn in today’s money. That same year saw another market-defining triple merger – Freshfields’ combination with Germany’s Bruckhaus Westrick Heller Lober and Deringer Tessin Herrmann & Sedemund.

Norton Rose and Fulbright & Jaworski, 2013

Revenue Lawyers
Norton Rose $1.32bn 2,200
Fulbright & Jaworski $597m 800

 

Norton Rose has done more than its fair share of mergers over the years, including the three-way verein tie-up with South African firm Deneys Reitz and Canada’s Ogilvy Renault in 2011. But its biggest deal was its first major step into the US, combining with Texas firm Fulbright & Jaworski in 2013, a deal which created a $1.85bn firm ($2.5bn adjusted for inflation). And the US expansion did not stop there, with a merger with $250m New York firm Chadbourne & Parke following in 2017.

Hogan & Hartson and Lovells, 2010

Revenue Lawyers
Hogan & Hartson $865m 1,120
Lovells $866m 1,637

 

While many remain sceptical about the merits of international mega-mergers, the 2010 combination of the UK’s Lovells and the Washington DC-based Hogan & Hartson is often held up as a success story. Another merger of equals, the deal created a $1.66bn firm ($2.5bn adjusted for inflation), which has grown steadily in the 15 years since, and is now set to break through $3bn revenue mark via a merger with Cadwalader.

DLA, Piper Rudnick and Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich, 2005

Revenue Lawyers
DLA £275m 1,350
Piper Rudnick $500m 1,000
Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich $213m 380

 

Often cited as one of the most influential legal mergers, DLA’s three-way verein combination with Piper Rudnick and Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich came shortly after Baker McKenzie became the first major law firm to adopt the model. The union created a $1.5bn firm ($2.5bn adjusted for inflation), and DLA has maintained separate US and international partnerships and profit pools to this day.

Dentons and Dacheng, 2015

Revenue Lawyers
Dentons $1.275bn 2,600
Dacheng $400m 4,000

 

Dentons – whose brand dates back to UK firm Denton Wilde Sapte – had already gone through a rapid series of transformative mergers, including the 2010 combination with US firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, followed by a three-way tie-up in 2013 with European firm Salans and Canada’s Fraser Milner Casgrain.

However, the biggest of all came in 2015, when it combined with China’s Dacheng to create the world’s largest law firm by headcount, with 6,600 lawyers across 50 countries, and revenue of around $1.7bn ($2.3bn adjusted for inflation). That deal only lasted eight years, as the pair split in 2023 as a raft of international firms pulled out of China amid regulatory concerns.

CMS, Nabarro and Olswang, 2016

Revenue Lawyers
CMS £735m 3,000
Nabarro £130m 420
Olswang £113m 310

 

In one of the biggest mergers involving only UK firms, in 2016 CMS pulled off an ambitious three-way combination of its UK business, CMS Cameron McKenna, with City firms Nabarro and Olswang. Nabarro’s real estate strengths and Olswang’s TMT credentials added heft to CMS’ capabilities in the UK, forming a $1.3bn firm ($1.8bn adjusted for inflation).

Herbert Smith and Freehills, 2012

Revenue Lawyers
Herbert Smith £475m 1,400
Freehills £382m 800

 

The merger of UK stalwart Herbert Smith and leading Australian firm Freehills came during a period in which many UK firms looked to APAC as the next big thing for international growth. The merger, which created a $1.2bn firm ($1.7bn adjusted for inflation), took place the same year as another similar tie-up – Ashurst’s £550m merger with Blake Dawson. Herbert Smith Freehills went on to secure a $2bn US merger this year, tying up with New York firm Kramer Levin.

King & Wood Mallesons ShatteredKing & Wood Mallesons and SJ Berwin, 2013

Revenue Lawyers
King & Wood Mallesons $655m 1,900
SJ Berwin £184m 350

 

While the HSF and Ashurst Blake Dawson tie-ups are generally viewed kindly in hindsight, one other UK-APAC merger serves as the textbook example of a merger gone wrong – the 2013 combination of Sino-Australian giant King & Wood Mallesons and City firm SJ Berwin. The SJ Berwin brand disappeared one year after the merger, and the legacy UK arm was riven with internal politics and financial troubles, collapsing into administration in early 2017.

And the bad news didn’t end there. Earlier this month, KWM announced that its China and Australia partnerships will split next year, reforming as separate firms, 14 years after the merger of King & Wood and Mallesons Stephen Jacques.

Honorable mentions

Winston & Strawn and Taylor Wessing, 2025
$1.65bn, 1,400 lawyers

Arnold & Porter and Kaye Scholer, 2017
$1bn ($1.3bn adjusted for inflation), 1,000 lawyers

Squire Sanders & Dempsey and Patton Boggs, 2014
$870m ($1.2bn adjusted for inflation), 1,600 lawyers

Bryan Cave and Berwin Leighton Paisner, 2018
$900m ($1.2bn adjusted for inflation), 1,600 lawyers

Mayer Brown and Rowe & Maw, 2002
$650m ($1.2bn adjusted for inflation), 1,250 lawyers

Reed Smith and Richard Butler, 2007
$725m ($1.1bn adjusted for inflation), 1,400 lawyers

Eversheds and Sutherland Asbill & Brennan, 2017
$770m ($1bn adjusted for inflation), 2,300 lawyers

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‘Every senior partner is asking themselves how their firm fits into this new picture’: sizing up Hogan Lovells Cadwalader

If more evidence was needed that the market for law firm mergers is hotter than ever, last week’s news of the Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader combination provided it.

Coming less than a week after the announcement of Taylor Wessing’s tie-up with Winston & Strawn, and a month after Ashurst Perkins Coie, the latest deal is the biggest of all, creating Hogan Lovells Cadwalader, a 3,100-lawyer firm with projected revenues of more than $3.6bn.

Cadwalader is known as the oldest law firm on Wall Street, with a long-established pedigree in New York’s financial markets. However, following a run of recent partner departures, talk had begun to circulate about a potential merger, with firms including Alston & Bird named as possible partners.

Despite the uncertainty around the firm, revenues rose 15.7% to a record $638m in 2024, and in Hogan Lovells, Cadwalader has now found a partner that provides a full-service international platform covering the Americas, EMEA and APAC.

Hogan Lovells has in recent years been driving towards the $3bn revenue mark, with a 10.5% increase during 2024 taking it to $2.96bn.

The firm is no stranger to large-scale mergers, having been created by the 2010 combination of Washington DC heavyweight Hogan & Hartson and London firm Lovells. In recent years, it has been looking to build up its New York credentials, taking a large team from Stroock & Stroock & Lavan in 2023 and also that year holding talks with Shearman & Sterling, prior to that firm’s subsequent merger with Allen & Overy.

‘It might be as good as you can get there without taking on the top firms in their backyard’

After discussions with Cadwalader which began in November last year, the firms have now agreed a deal which is expected to complete in June 2026, subject to partnership vote in the spring.

So in the context of both firms’ history of merger talks, what does the market make of the deal?

Many observers note how beneficial the combination appears to be for both firms, with one senior partner in London describing it as ‘the most logical of the recent mergers’.

‘Cadwalader provides a piece of the New York puzzle for Hogan Lovells – it might be as good as you can get there without taking on the top firms in their backyard,’ the partner said. ‘They are two super strong and credible brands, and because Hogan Lovells already has a significant US presence it feels like less of a step into the dark. It’s a natural fit that takes both firms further down their own paths.’

Others agree, including one former Hogan Lovells partner. ‘The New York market is a difficult nut to crack, and Hogan Lovells has been looking for some time to get it right,’ the partner said. ‘It is more of a finance play, but it’s not a bad strategy. You crawl a little before you can walk.’

On the Cadwalader side, one partner said: ‘There was some urgency within the firm about trying to get something done, to shore the firm up after some departures, combined with the sense that the firm is too small.’

‘Cadwalader still has some great practice areas. It has been a great year and the firm is still profitable, but I think they want to make people feel comfortable and give the firm some more firepower to make hires.’

‘It was a question of needing to merge, not wanting to’

However, others characterise the merger as more of a necessity than a choice. One London managing partner said: ‘Cadwalader had no choice, so it’s good that they found somebody. It’s a similar situation to what happened at Shearman – they’d lost a lot of good people, and they were going to start losing revenue.’

Freddie Lawson, partner search lead at legal recruiter Montresor, concurred on the motivations for Cadwalader: ‘Firms that are too niche can’t survive, and it is sad that an old institution like Cadwalader has had to put itself up for auction. Post-financial crisis, Cadwalader was always in trouble. It was a question of needing to merge, not wanting to.’

Despite this, Cadwalader’s strength in key markets such as structured finance, combined with its Wall Street bona fides, are a clear draw for a firm such as Hogan Lovells.

Robert Conrad, managing director of partner recruitment at Major Lindsey & Africa in New York, points to Hogan Lovells’ decision to go with Cadwalader after opting against a Shearman merger. ‘Think about it from Hogan’s perspective: they were kicking the tires at Shearman, and they decided to walk away from that. But they decided to go ahead with Cadwalader. That may say something about Cadwalader’s strengths.’ 

One former Hogan Lovells partner agreed, adding: ‘It’s not that Hogan Lovells are merging defensively. Hogan Lovells needed something big in New York, with strength in finance.’

For others, the merger underlines the new norm, as firms at the top of the global legal market continue to seek increased scale.

One partner who heads a finance practice in London described it as the beginning of ‘a further round of transformation in big law’, while another City partner suggested it will push more peers to follow suit, saying: ‘This will put more pressure on international firms that don’t have a substantial US presence – we will start to see a separation of those that do and don’t have that.’

A senior partner at a global firm concluded: ‘Tectonic plates are shifting and there is a new generation of games that are being played – every senior partner is asking themselves how their firm fits into this new picture, which really defines around 20 firms. There are parts of the market in which everyone will be open to a conversation about merging.’

Additional reporting from Will Lewallen, Eliza Winter and Alex Ryan.

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Addleshaws explores plans to boost rewards for star partners in performance drive

Addleshaw Goddard is exploring how to better reward star partners for their contributions in a bid to better drive and recognise individual performance, the firm’s managing partner Andrew Johnston told Legal Business.

Johnston said the firm needs to be better prepared to ‘disproportionately recognise and reward’ those partners who are outperforming and increase compensation accordingly.

Possible changes being explored include enhancing bonuses for high achievers, with Johnston also keen to increase transparency around pay and performance across the partnership more broadly.

The firm is not planning to make any changes to its standard partner remuneration structure, which Johnston described as a ‘modified lockstep with movement up and down based on performance’.

A key part of any plans will be measuring and tracking performance in order to better reward those that outperform. 

‘We’re not going to become a firm with a formulaic, spreadsheet-based compensation system. But equally, understanding where partner performance lies is important,’ Johnston told LB. ‘We’re going to get crisper in terms of understanding and analysing how the business is performing and how we share that data.’

‘We want to continue to incentivize and drive that collaborative culture across the business but, at the same time, we want people to be in the market, taking more market share and being really focused on driving client revenue,’ he added.

One former partner said that the firm’s partner bonuses were generally awarded in increments of five equity points, rising to 20. The person suggested increasing the flexibility and transparency of this system would be one way to better reward performance.

When Johnston took over as managing partner in May 2024 the firm’s profit per equity partner stood at £984,000, with revenue at £496m. At his first partner conference he set out targets to double revenue to £1bn by 2030.

Johnston succeeded John Joyce who led the firm for a decade from 2014 during which time he shored up the firm’s financials, taking Addleshaws from a cash deficit to more than healthy reserves of £146m by the end of the 22/23 financial year.

In the last 10 years, Addleshaw’s revenue has increased 186% from £192.5m to £550.9m, a trajectory that Johnston wants to build on.

One key metric Johnston has singled out as needing improvement is the firm’s revenue per lawyer figure which is currently £345,000.

‘It’s certainly trending upwards and we are much happier with the direction,’ he said, ‘but that speaks to the fact there is more to do around performance.’

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‘This is going to happen’ – Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader leaders on creating the biggest law firm merger ever

‘Cadwalader approached this the way our clients approach a sophisticated M&A deal. They hired a pre-eminent M&A shop in Davis Polk and engaged in a competitive process, so I was delighted when I got the call saying ‘we want your vision,’ says Hogan Lovells’ CEO Miguel Zaldivar of the firm’s planned merger with Cadwalader.

For Zaldivar, yesterday’s announcement (18 December) that the firm is in discussions to combine with Wall Street’s Cadwalader as early as next summer marks the end of a long hunt for a New York merger partner for the transatlantic firm. The firm previously walked away from talks with legacy Shearman & Sterling in March 2023, before it ultimately combined with Allen & Overy.

Speaking to Legal Business immediately after briefing partners on the Cadwalader plans, Zaldivar acknowledged that it also marks the end of a protracted process that saw the pair start speaking in November last year, before conversations stalled around March, accelerating again only in recent weeks.

With Cadwalader running an almost auction-style process that saw a number of other firms coming under consideration, including Alston & Bird, it’s fair to say that Hogan Lovells’ selection as preferred merger partner did not always look guaranteed.

‘It was the most professional process you can imagine. We didn’t take issue with the fact that things weren’t always going our way,’ maintains Zaldivar, who says the determining factor for selection was Hogan Lovells’ vision for what the combined firm would look like. ‘They wanted validation and to reach a conviction that this was going to work. It took time to get to alignment, but this is going to be a marriage made in heaven.’

Partners at both firms are expected to vote on the deal in spring next year and, assuming it gets the go-ahead, the pair will combine as Hogan Lovells Cadwalader as early as 30 June 2026. This will put Zaldivar at the helm of a roughly 3,100 lawyer firm with combined revenues of roughly $3.6bn – making it the largest-ever law firm merger, based on revenues at the time of announcement.

‘The market is consolidating,’ says Zaldivar as the legal market prepares for the launch of three new transatlantic tie-ups within the next year in Hogan Lovells Cadwalader, Winston Taylor and Ashurst Perkins Coie. ‘There are winners and losers – the people that are diversifying, becoming global and who share the commitment to quality that Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader share are going to win.’

Cadwalader’s current co-managing partners Pat Quinn and Wes Misson, who will both take on international management roles in the merged firm, are equally excited.

Having set up a committee to consider options including diversifying the finance-driven firm’s practice without a merger, the pair spent much of 2025 bringing the New York firm’s partnership together behind the idea of a combination, before selecting Hogan Lovells as the preferred match.

‘We’ve been approached by a lot of firms over the years, but never one that made as much sense as this,’ says Quinn. ‘This is a compelling opportunity for our firm. You take a global law firm that practises at an elite level, across the Americas, across London, EMEA and APAC, and then you add the oldest law firm on Wall Street – and one that is a pioneer in finance.’

‘We cannot be more excited about this combination; it just makes so much sense,’ adds Misson. ‘Cadwalader and Hogan Lovells coming together is like the missing puzzle piece. It gives us everything we need to take our practice global and provide our clients with that global reach. The sky is going to be the limit with this new platform.’

According to its leaders, the combined firm will represent all 20 of the 20 largest financial institutions in the US, and 18 of the top 20 global financial institutions, with the finance piece particularly important for Hogan Lovells, which already has a strong client base with multinational corporates operating in highly regulated sectors and financial institutions.

‘With the [practice] balance we already have, our brand, more than $3bn in revenue and our ambition to really make it in New York, to have a Wall Street firm with a high quality, but limited, offering is music to my partners’ ears,’ says Zaldivar. He also stressed the appeal of Cadwalader’s Charlotte practice, pointing to the city as the second-largest banking market in the US,  before insisting of the deal: ‘This is going to happen.’

‘The headline here is that this is two firms coming together to create a firm that there is nothing else like in terms of completeness of coverage and excellence of the practices across the globe,’ adds Quinn, who led the initial discussions with Hogan Lovells.

Misson is equally bullish: ‘In so many different ways, we complete each other. We complete Hogan Lovells by adding that finance and Wall Street brand and practice, and they complete us by giving us the global firepower and the global platform for our clients.’

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A merger or a takeover? Winston Taylor by the numbers

This year’s rush of mergers is showing no signs of slowing as Christmas approaches, with Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader the latest firms to reveal they plan to combine, following the recent announcements of the Ashurst Perkins Coie and Winston Taylor deals.

If it goes ahead, the latter will see Taylor Wessing‘s UK business break away from its French and German arms to merge with Chicago-based Winston & Strawn. Here, we dive into the data to explore what the combination would mean for each firm.

A merger or an acquisition?

Winston is by far the bigger of the two firms, with 2024 revenues of $1.27bn (£946m) placing it just outside the top 50 in the Global 100 revenue rankings. By contrast, Taylor Wessing posted UK turnover of £284m for the 2024-25 financial year, meaning it will represent around a quarter of the combined firm.

The two firms also have a wide gap in profits per equity partner, with Winston posting PEP of $3.5m (£2.6m) for 2024, more than double Taylor Wessing’s UK PEP of £1.1m.

Revenue PEP Partners Lawyers
Winston & Strawn $1.27bn $3.5m 463 932
Taylor Wessing UK £284m £1.1m 135 450

France and Germany are home to more than half of Taylor Wessing’s top-tier practices

To secure the merger, Taylor Wessing will split from its French and German arms, and while a cooperation relationship is set to be put in place, the move will mean a substantial part of the firm – which was formed by the Anglo-German merger of Taylor Joynson Garrett and Wessing & Berenberg-Gossler in 2002 – will break away and operate independently.

Germany and France account for more than half (16 of 29) of Taylor Wessing’s top-tier L500 rankings, and 60 of its overall total of 162.

Region Taylor Wessing rankings (top-tier)
UK 50 (11)
Germany 45 (14)
France 15 (2)
Rest of world 52 (2)
Total 162 (29)

Shared strengths – IP and PE stand out

The two firms have no overlap among their top-tier Legal 500 rankings, but extending the comparison to the top two tiers does reveal synergies. Taylor Wessing has two tier 1 rankings for London intellectual property: patents (contentious and non-contentious) and trade marks, copyright and design, which play well with Winston’s tier 2 Legal 500 US ranking for patent litigation.

The two firms also share complementary rankings in mid-market private equity, with Taylor Wessing in the top tier for deals up to £500m in the UK, while Winston & Strawn has a tier 2 US ranking for deals up to $500m.

The firms aren’t standing on each other’s toes

The pair have very distinct geographical footprints, with overlap in only four locations around the world: London, Brussels, New York and San Francisco, where there is minimal crossover.

Both firms have small bases in Brussels, while in the US, Taylor Wessing has had a presence in San Francisco and New York since 2014. In London, Winston has a relatively low headcount relative to most US firms, with just 26 lawyers.

London Brussels New York San Francisco
Winston & Strawn 26 2 223 29
Taylor Wessing 450 8 1 17

What the clients think – the areas where both firms are rated

In addition to rankings, Legal 500 data also offers insight into how both firm’s London clients regard the service they get from the firm. Taylor Wessing is top-rated on a number of metrics in practice areas where the firm has a well-established reputation, including venture capital and reputation management, while Winston’s commercial litigation team scores highly.

Taylor Wessing: top-scoring client service metrics

  • Venture capital – industry/commercial knowledge of the sector
  • Reputation management – communication and case/matter management
  • Financial services: non-contentious/regulatory – quality of associates

Winston: top-scoring client service metrics

  • Commercial litigation: premium – partner availability and engagement

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Revolving Doors: Willkie hires from Kirkland in Germany, while Slaughters London partner surfaces at Simmons

Willkie Farr & Gallagher has become the latest firm to hire a partner from Kirkland & Ellis, bringing over corporate partner Sebastian Häfele in Munich, in the third exit from the Chicago-headquartered firm this week.

Häfele, who specialises in corporate M&A and private equity, spent nine years at Kirkland, where he made partner in 2021.

Previously, he has worked with clients such as Nordic Capital, co-leading on its acquisition of a majority share in medical technology company corpuls in 2023, and as an associate advised PE firm Yucaipa Companies on its investment in SIGNA Sports United, valued at $3.2bn.

The move marks Willkie’s continued investment in its German operations, where it now houses three offices in Frankfurt, Munich and the new Hamburg site, which opened in July of this year.

On his move, Häfele said: ‘Willkie has a top-ranked global private equity and transactional platform that is known for its collaborative, client-focused approach and well-established reputation in the German market. I am delighted to join this growing team of exceptional lawyers in Germany.’

Häfele’s departure follows PE partner Aprajita Dhundia and tax partner Ian Ferreira, who left Kirkland’s London office for Sullivan & Cromwell earlier this week.

Over in London, former head of Slaughter and May’s derivatives practice Oliver Wicker has found a home at Simmons & Simmons.

CONTINUE FROM HERE!

Wicker has acted for several high-profile clients, including advising Aviva on its disposal of a portfolio of equity release mortgages, Deutsche Bank AG on multiple loan portfolio sales, and Goldman Sachs as it arranged three sets of notes valued at $613m.

Michael Lorraine, head of Simmons’ financial markets and real estate practice and the UK structured finance and derivatives group, commented: ‘Oliver is a leading practitioner in structured finance and derivatives, with a track record advising on some of the most technically demanding transactions in the market. His arrival is a huge boost for our practice.’

She added: ‘His reputation for handling complex, bespoke work and his experience across the full range of structured finance and derivatives transactions will be invaluable as we continue to expand our offering.’

Wicker’s departure from Slaughters, where he began his legal career nearly two decades ago, was announced in the summer of this year. He will join the Simmons structured finance and derivatives team as partner on 2 January 2026.

Slaughters said in a statement: ‘We thank Oliver for his contribution to the firm and wish him well for the future.’

Elsewhere in the City, Mishcon de Reya has expanded its commercial real estate practice with the arrival of consultant Felicity Jones, who will co-chair the firm’s hotels group.

Jones will move from Watson Farley & Williams, where she spent 16 years as partner between 2009-2025, before she became a consultant in May this year. She has experience advising hotel owners on acquisitions, disposals and portfolio transactions in the UK, Europe and the Middle East.

Chair of Mishcon’s real estate practice Stephen Hughes commented: ‘[Jones’] arrival strengthens our sophisticated, multi-disciplined team, which includes a market-leading disputes practice serving a wide range of institutions and individuals. Felicity’s experience will help us continue to deliver exceptional results for our clients as we build on our reputation for bold, creative, and commercially focused advice.’

Finally Ropes & Gray has welcomed finance counsel Niccolò Vernillo from Italian firm Chiomenti. Qualified in Italy and England and Wales, Vernillo joins Ropes’ Italian finance team . His practice focuses on acquisition and leverage finance across European markets.

Vernillo has worked in Chiomenti’s London office for the past five years, where he became a counsel in May this year.

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Trading places: Paul Weiss signs up five NY partners as Latham, Kirkland, A&O also make moves

Paul Weiss has added five partners to its New York finance group with a series of hires from Sidley, Kirkland & Ellis and White & Case.

Three of the partners join from Sidley, including leveraged finance co-head Nicholas Schwartz (pictured top, right). He will start at Paul Weiss before the end of the year, alongside fellow finance partners Mark Adler and Julie Ann Lamm (pictured top, left and centre).

Paul Weiss chair Brad Karp said in a statement: ‘Nick, Mark and Julie Ann are a truly stellar team of finance advisers, and we’re thrilled to welcome them to our firm. Their multifaceted debt financing skillset will amplify our market-leading capabilities at a time when we’re seeing increasing demand by our clients for sharp, solutions-oriented financing for their most consequential transactions.’

Corporate department chair Scott Barshay added: ‘I have known and worked with Nick and his team for over a decade, and I am thrilled to have them join us.’

Schwartz has extensive experience advising corporate and private equity borrowers in a range of leveraged finance matters. Adler has experience advising PE sponsors, portfolio companies, public companies, and alternative capital providers, while Lamm’s clients include corporate borrowers, PE sponsors, and portfolio companies.

Major clients the group has worked with include Clearlake Capital, with Schwartz and Lamm both involved in the Sidley team that advised the Santa Monica-headquartered PE firm on its $7.7bn take-private of data and analytics provider Dun & Bradstreet Holdings earlier this year. All three also previously worked at Kirkland.

The other two hires for Paul Weiss are project finance specialists Kelann Brook Stirling and Jamie Franklin, who join from Kirkland and White & Case respectively.

Karp said: ‘Kelann and Jamie are spectacular project finance lawyers, with deep experience in handling landmark energy and infrastructure deals. As investment in energy and infrastructure, in particular digital infrastructure, continues to surge, Kelann’s and Jamie’s expertise will enable us to advise our clients on the most ambitious, transformative projects in the market.’

Both lawyers have experience advising clients including PE sponsors, corporate borrowers, and institutional investors on a range of energy and infrastructure finance and development transactions.

Franklin joined White & Case as a partner from Latham & Watkins in 2020. He first served in the firm’s Singapore office, relocated to Houston in 2022, and makes the move to New York to join Paul Weiss. Meanwhile, Stirling joined Kirkland as a partner in 2018 from Latham, where he was an associate.

Also in New York, Gibson Dunn has hired Fried Frank partner Duncan McKay to lead its fund finance practice.

McKay brings experience across a range of fund finance and structured capital transactions for domestic and overseas clients including alternative asset managers, investment fund sponsors, and direct lenders.

He moved to Fried Frank in 2022 from Kirkland, where he made partner in 2018.

Gibson Dunn investment funds practice group chair Shukie Grossman said: ‘As the investment funds landscape continues to evolve and the demand for liquidity solutions and fund finance products steadily increases, Duncan’s innovative capabilities and best-in-class deal execution will be invaluable to our clients and will further strengthen the firm’s premier global platform.’

The firm has been steadily building its funds capabilities over the course of the year, with hires including DLA Piper global funds co-chair James O’Donnell in London in March, as well as Morgan Lewis partner Carolyn Abram in Dubai in June.

Also hiring from Fried Frank in New York is A&O Shearman, which has brought Jan Sysel into its fund finance practice.

A Fried Frank lifer, Sysel has spent more than two decades at the firm, and made partner there in 2015. He has experience in structuring and executing a range of complex fund finance transactions, in particular in fund formation.

On the West Coast, Kirkland has hired Latham’s global hospitality sector co-lead Meghan Cocci, bringing her into its Los Angeles office as a partner.

Cocci spent nearly six years at Latham, and has experience advising clients including private equity funds, real estate investment trusts (REITs), real estate developers, and family offices, on major transactions in the US and around the world.

Last March she advised private real estate firm Cain International on management and branding documentation relating to its $2bn construction financing to support its development of mixed-use urban project One Beverly Hills. She has advised US-based REIT Sunston Hotel Investors on its $265m acquisition of the Montage Healdsburg Resort in April 2021, as well as its acquisition of the Four Seasons Resort and Residencies Napa Valley that December, valued at $177.5m.

She has also advised on real estate matters in relation to larger transactions, including advising Realty Income Corporation’s $63bn merger with Spirit Realty Capital in October 2023.

‘Meghan is widely known as one of the top hospitality lawyers in the market,’ Kirkland executive committee chair Jon Ballis said in a statement. ‘Her arrival strengthens our leading real assets platform and bolsters our rapidly growing entertainment, sports and media experience. We’re thrilled to welcome her to Kirkland.’

Cocci added: ‘Kirkland is well poised to take advantage of any and all opportunities within the hospitality industry, and I can’t wait to start working with the team to help further grow and strengthen our relationships with clients in their most complex and exciting hospitality-related transactions.’

For its part, Latham has also made a hire from Kirkland, bringing private equity and M&A partner Chris Heasley into its Houston office.

Heasley made partner at Kirkland in 2018 after joining from Baker Botts, and has experience advising on the development, acquisition, and divestiture of energy, infrastructure, and technology-related projects and assets.

‘We are thrilled to welcome Chris to Latham and to continue to expand our preeminent energy M&A and private equity practice in Texas and globally,’ said Nick Dhesi, Houston office managing partner at Latham. ‘He is widely regarded as one of the top energy lawyers in Texas, and his impressive track record and experience, breadth of practice and industry relationships will do what we value most — serve our clients well.’

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‘History in the making’ – Hogan Lovells set for record $3.6bn merger with Cadwalader

Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader are in merger talks that, if successful, will create a firm on the fringes of the world’s top five, with revenue of $3.6bn.

Partners were briefed on the planned combination earlier today (18 December), after the two firms signed a memorandum of understanding in London earlier this week.

If the deal goes through, the 3,100-lawyer firm will be called Hogan Lovells Cadwalader, and will have extensive operations across the Americas, EMEA and APAC.

Their combined revenues of $3.6bn would place the merged firm in sixth place in the Global 100, above Gibson Dunn & Crutcher and just below A&O Shearman. Hogan Lovells posted a 10.5% revenue hike to $2.96bn for 2024, and Cadwalader also saw double-digit growth, with turnover up 15.7% to $638m.

Both firms also posted double-digit profit hikes for 2024, with Cadwalader’s profit per equity partner up 33.5% to $3.71m and Hogan Lovells up 12% to $3.07m.

Confirmation of the discussions ends months of speculation about Cadwalader’s future, with the New York firm’s brand recently linked with peers including Alston & Bird, in addition to Hogan Lovells.

Hogan Lovells has been open about its desire to bulk up in New York for years. Its merger talks with Cadwalader started in November 2024, cooled off in March this year, before resuming at pace in recent weeks.

Hogan Lovells CEO Miguel Zaldivar, who will serve as CEO of the combined firm, told Legal Business that both partnerships will vote on the deal in the spring, with the financially integrated union set to take place as soon as 30 June 2026.

Should it go ahead, the combination will bring together Hogan Lovells’ strengths in highly regulated sectors across G20 markets with Cadwalader, Wall Street’s oldest law firm, which counts many of the world’s leading financial institutions and private capital companies among its client base.

Cadwalader’s current co-managing partners Pat Quinn and Wes Misson will both take on international management roles, with Quinn becoming global managing partner for client and practice integration, and Misson becoming global managing partner for the finance practice.

The merged firm will have more than 370 lawyers in New York, with Cadwalader’s strength in finance and real estate finance adding depth to Hogan Lovells’ existing New York offering, which spans practices including M&A, sports, commercial litigation and real estate, where the firm added a team from legacy Stroock & Stroock & Lavan two years ago.

The deal will also gift Hogan Lovells a presence in Charlotte, the second biggest banking centre in the US, with more than 100 Cadwalader lawyers operating across fund finance, bank lending, securitisation and structured finance, real estate finance and commercial mortgage-backed securities.

Zaldivar told LB the deal was ‘history in the making’. He added: ‘Our partners are extremely excited. We have a shared ambition to be the greatest and most elite law firm out there.’

Misson said: ‘The sky is going to be the limit with this new platform. You’ve got two firms that are having record years. We’re having our second best year in our illustrious history, and we’re very much in growth mode right now.’

Quinn added: ‘The headline here is that this is two firms coming together to create a firm that there is nothing else like in terms of completeness of coverage and excellence of the practices across the globe.’

Over the past decade, Cadwalader’s revenue has grown by just a third, dipping from $481m in 2015 to $459m in 2020 before returning to growth, rising to $638m for 2024. Hogan Lovells – itself the result of the 2010 combination of Hogan & Hartson and the UK’s Lovells – has grown more quickly over the same period, with turnover up 67% from $1.78bn in 2015 to almost $3bn.

Cadwalader has turned to Davis Polk for legal advice throughout the merger process, with Hogan Lovells relying on its own M&A lawyers.

Davis Polk’s team has been led by chair and managing partner Neil Barr and M&A partner Lee Hochbaum, working with fellow New York partners Jennifer Conway (executive compensation), Michael Mollerus (tax) and civil litigation partner Michael Flynn, alongside Howard Shelanski (antitrust) in Washington DC.

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Government plans to reverse PACCAR signal end to ‘turbulent time’ for litigation funding

The Ministry of Justice has today (17 December) announced plans to regulate the litigation funding sector, bringing an end to more than two years of uncertainty following the 2023 Supreme Court judgment in PACCAR – but uncertainties over the nature of the reforms remain.

The plans will see the government legislate to allow funding agreements that offer returns as a percentage of damages,  amid a raft of other measures that the government says will aim to make funding ‘fair and transparent’ for claimants and help maintain the competitiveness of English and Welsh courts.

The moves will undo the decision in PACCAR, in which the Supreme Court found that third-party litigation funding agreements (LFAs) that allowed funders to recover a percentage of damages were prohibited under the damages-based agreements (DBA) regulations, and therefore unenforceable.

Justice minister Sarah Sackman said in a statement: ‘this government intends to take action to mitigate the impact of the 2023 Supreme Court judgment in PACCAR and implement proportionate regulation of third-party LFAs.’

The government proposal has two limbs. First, ‘to legislate to clarify that LFAs are not damages based agreements, with prospective effect.’ And second, to ‘introduce proportionate regulation of LFAs.’

The PACCAR judgment saw funders race to renegotiate their agreements as multiples-based agreements, in which funders agree returns as multiples of their investment, rather than as a percentage of the eventual damages awarded.

While this process was largely smooth, some have since noted that the experience left the litigation funding market chilled, as well as providing opportunities for ‘bad actors’ to contest their LFAs – as in Bugsby Property’s failed attempt to use PACCAR to invalidate an agreement it held with Therium Litigation Funding.

‘The very fact that this government has now committed, which it had not done before, is very welcome to see,’ said Susan Dunn, co-founder of Harbour Litigation Funding and chair of industry body the Association of Litigation Funders (ALF).

‘I don’t remember a more turbulent time than the last couple of years for funders’

Funders were frustrated after earlier plans to overturn the ruling put together by the previous Conservative government were shelved ahead of the 2024 general election, and not picked up by Labour after.

Earlier this year, the Civil Justice Council (CJC) published its review of litigation funding, which recommended the government take action.

Dunn pointed to the ongoing effects of PACCAR, in particular on activity in the Competition Appeals Tribunal (CAT): ‘The statistics have clearly shown that the number of claims issued in the CAT has fallen off a cliff since PACCAR. There was a clear, evidence-based, negative impact from this ruling. It wasn’t just funders having a moan – the stats speak for themselves.’

Richard Swallow, head of the disputes and investigations group at Slaughter and May, said that the main concern looking ahead is the nature of the proposed regulations.

‘The key issue for businesses will be the proposed safeguards and regulation around the use of funding to avoid speculative litigation that rewards funders (not consumers) and deters investment,’ he told Legal Business.

Addleshaw Goddard disputes partner Richard Wise took a middle position. ‘A reversal of PACCAR would provide welcome certainty and would be a recognition of the important role funding can play as one of the options available to claimants,’ he said.

He continued: ‘It will be interesting to see which of the CJC’s proposals the Government envisages should form part of its intended “new framework.”‘

Still, despite the uncertainties, funders welcome the announcement.

‘I’ve been funding for 23 years, and I don’t remember a more turbulent time than the last couple of years for funders,’ said Dunn. ‘Removing one of the big factors driving that instability is only a good thing.’

Additional reporting by Eliza Winter.

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Global 100 2025: elite tier set the pace as powerhouse firms pull away

All of the world’s 100 largest law firms saw revenues increase during the last financial year, as a thriving market also helped push average profit per equity partner (PEP) through the $3m milestone for the first time.

The performance marks the first time in three years that the entirety of the Global 100 have boosted revenues, while almost half (46%) posted double-digit growth, up from a quarter (26%) last year.

Combined revenues rose by 12% to hit $177bn, after reaching the $150bn mark last year.

Average revenue growth for the group was 10.5%, with the strongest performers including elite US trio Paul Weiss (32%), Davis Polk (25%) and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett (24%).

Paul Weiss, which now has total turnover of $2.63bn following a sustained period of international expansion, jumped eight spots in the revenue rankings from 27th to 19th. Davis Polk moved up five spots to 21st with turnover of $2.54bn, while Simpson Thacher rose from 18th to 15th with $2.9bn.

The top 10 fastest growers also included the world’s two largest firms, Latham & Watkins (23.1%) and Kirkland & Ellis (22.1%), which between them generated almost $16bn in revenues – more than the next four firms combined.

Latham and Kirkland were also among 15 of the top 25 firms to post double-digit growth for both revenue and PEP, as an elite tier of firms continues to pull away from the pack.

Thirty Global 100 firms now have revenue per lawyer of $1.5m or more, with seven above $2m – Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz ($4.48m), Sullivan & Cromwell ($2.33m), Ropes & Gray ($2.33m), Kirkland ($2.28m), Cravath ($2.26m), Skadden ($2.06m) and Davis Polk ($2.02m).

Another significant climber this year was A&O Shearman, which recently confirmed post-merger revenues of £2.86bn ($3.65bn) for its first year as a combined firm.

The figures, detailed in the firm’s first LLP accounts, mean it now sits in 5th place, up from last year’s placings of 12th and 75th for Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling respectively.

Freshfields also recently published its LLP accounts for 2024-25, revealing that revenue rose by 6% to £2.25bn ($2.87bn) during the year, placing the firm in 17th.

New entries

UK representation among the group was boosted this year by the new entry of Addleshaw Goddard, which was among the firms enjoying double-digit growth, posting a 14% increase to break through the $700m mark.

The firm has eschewed the merger strategies of many of its contemporaries to notch double-digit revenue increases for each of the last five years.

Addleshaws is now the 19th LB100 firm in the Global 100, with the next largest, Taylor Wessing, in line to join the group next year when it merges with Winston & Strawn to form Winston Taylor.

AG managing partner Andrew Johnston (pictured) put the firm’s success down to ‘the combination of a strong focus on domestic markets and clients, coupled with international growth.’

‘Bringing those two things together has been really powerful for us,’ he said. ‘We’ve seen great traction across our European platform, but that’s come off the back of a really strong focus on growth in the UK, staying very close to our clients, and being very consistent, with quality right across the platform.’

There were four other new entrants this year, all which are national US firms – Husch Blackwell, Taft, Jackson Lewis, and Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani.

PEP and purpose

Average PEP across the Global 100 grew even more sharply than revenue over the past year, rising nearly 13% to $3.18m on the back of last year’s 11% increase to $2.8m.

Eight Global 100 firms now have PEP of more than $7m, led by Kirkland & Ellis ($9.25m), Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz ($9.04m) and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan ($8.64m).

Hogan Lovells was one of 37 firms to achieve double-digit growth for both revenue and PEP, with revenue up 10.6% to $2.97bn and PEP up 12.1% to $3.07m.

CEO Miguel Zaldivar (pictured) described it as a ‘special year for the firm’, coming 15 years after the transatlantic merger of Hogan & Hartson and Lovells.

‘We are seeing tremendous momentum in the market,’ he said. ‘Our approach has been that if we achieve a good profit margin then the wider economic benefits will follow, without compromising our client base, style of practice or culture. We have accomplished three consecutive years of record growth, and very low attrition.’

[email protected]

 

Posted on

Global 100 2025: main table

The Global 100 table provides key financial metrics for the 100 largest law firms in the world by revenue. For more, see Global 100 2025: global elite continue to pull away from the chasing pack.

wdt_ID wdt_created_by wdt_created_at wdt_last_edited_by wdt_last_edited_at 2025 ranking 2024 ranking Firm Total revenue ($m) YOY revenue change % Profit margin RPL PPL PEP % change PEP Lawyers 2025 Total partners 2025 Equity partners 2025
2 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 1 1 Kirkland & Ellis 8802 22.1% 60 2,276 1,370 9,253 16.3% 3,868.0 1,676 573
4 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 2 2 Latham & Watkins 7000 23.1% 57 1,953 1,116 7,140 29.4% 3,584.2 957 553
6 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 3 3 DLA Piper* 4170 10.7% 27 864 237 3,403 9.0% 4,827.0 1,370 336
8 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 02:26 PM 4 5 Skadden 3669 12.2% 58 2,059 1,195 6,049 12.0% 1,782.2 352 352
10 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 02:26 PM 5 12 A&O Shearman**1 3650 n/a 38 1,149 442 2,552 n/a 3,178.0 776 776
12 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 6 7 Gibson Dunn 3558 15.7% 61 1,615 977 7,175 28.4% 2,203.0 587 300
14 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 7 6 Sidley 3440 10.9% 42 1,690 707 5,157 12.3% 2,035.0 662 279
16 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 8 8 Ropes & Gray 3416 14.1% 44 2,330 1,015 4,989 10.5% 1,466.0 298 298
18 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 9 4 Baker McKenzie 3400 3.4% 38 740 283 2,100 6.0% 4,594.6 1,432 601
20 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 10 9 White & Case 3317 12.5% 51 1,238 633 4,007 27.0% 2,679.0 689 349
22 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 11 10 Morgan Lewis 3099 6.9% 56 1,527 860 2,118 7.7% 2,029.0 824 824
24 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 12 11 Clifford Chance**2 3063 6.3% 39 1,094 430 2,693 5.3% 2,800.0 660 0
26 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 13 14 Hogan Lovells* 2967 10.6% 34 1,098 369 3,074 12.1% 2,703.0 812 325
28 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 02:33 PM 14 17 Linklaters**3 2961 12.5% 47 919 428 2,807 17.9% 3,220.0 565 0
30 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 02:27 PM 15 18 Simpson Thacher 2896 24.0% 54 1,944 1,050 7,664 19.1% 1,489.8 315 204
32 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 02:28 PM 16 15 Jones Day 2880 8.0% 49 1,189 583 1,599 2.0% 2,422.1 883 883
34 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 02:29 PM 17 16 Freshfields 4 2869 7.8% 51 1,025 521 3,061 2.6% 2,800.0 477 477
36 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 18 13 Dentons**** 2750 1.1% 30 458 137 906 n/a 6,010.0 2,145 0
38 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 19 27 Paul Weiss 2634 31.6% 57 1,967 1,113 7,539 14.7% 1,339.5 217 198
40 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 20 19 Greenberg Traurig 2619 13.7% 33 985 329 2,632 9.7% 2,659.0 1,312 332
42 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 21 26 Davis Polk 2540 25.1% 55 2,021 1,114 7,800 25.8% 1,257.0 186 186
44 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 22 24 Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan 2457 18.2% 63 1,988 1,245 8,643 18.9% 1,236.0 294 178
46 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 23 21 Goodwin 2449 9.1% 46 1,402 650 3,621 11.7% 1,746.2 609 313
48 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 24 20 Norton Rose Fulbright†† 2436 7.8% 35 663 231 1,620 15.7% 3,676.6 1,087 523
50 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 25 22 King & Spalding 2373 11.0% 49 1,782 880 5,932 11.3% 1,331.3 522 198
52 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 26 23 CMS* 2244 6.0% 32 426 134 931 1.0% 5,268.0 1,318 762
54 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 27 33 Paul Hastings 2236 23.2% 51 1,903 970 6,715 24.5% 1,175.0 332 170
56 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 28 28 McDermott Will & Emery 2231 16.1% 43 1,670 722 4,578 21.7% 1,335.9 633 211
58 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 29 25 Cooley 2152 5.8% 40 1,632 656 3,867 9.4% 1,318.4 384 224
60 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 30 30 Sullivan & Cromwell 2051 10.0% 57 2,333 1,327 6,740 7.8% 879.0 178 178
62 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 31 31 Holland & Knight 2044 10.5% 32 1,141 371 2,291 4.8% 1,791.4 877 290
64 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 32 32 Weil 2025 10.7% 46 1,543 709 5,371 15.6% 1,312.0 285 173
66 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 33 29 Mayer Brown 1983 3.8% 32 1,123 362 2,791 14.3% 1,765.8 651 229
68 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 34 36 Milbank 1859 22.8% 62 1,913 1,190 6,812 33.2% 971.8 212 170
70 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 35 37 Willkie Farr & Gallagher 1775 18.3% 55 1,500 823 4,540 17.5% 1,183.0 355 215
72 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 36 35 Covington 1747 12.8% 49 1,383 674 2,671 15.3% 1,263.0 319 319
74 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 37 34 Herbert Smith Freehills**5 1733 5.9% 36 636 228 1,822 10.6% 2,726.0 513 341
76 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 38 39 Cleary Gottlieb 1700 14.0% 59 1,453 853 5,223 15.8% 1,170.0 191 191
78 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 39 40 Eversheds Sutherland 6 1630 10.1% 0 482 0 1,788 18.2% 3,382.0 899 250
80 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 40 45 Debevoise & Plimpton 1623 19.7% 50 1,741 863 5,336 32.0% 932.0 151 151
82 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 41 38 WilmerHale 1602 6.9% 52 1,614 839 3,271 5.3% 992.7 255 255
84 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 42 41 Orrick 1593 8.8% 30 1,513 447 3,632 16.7% 1,053.0 381 130
86 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 43 48 Dechert 1511 16.8% 49 1,707 835 4,868 35.7% 884.8 303 152
88 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 44 42 Reed Smith 1500 4.9% 33 938 314 1,820 13.8% 1,599.4 627 260
90 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 45 44 Akin 1490 8.8% 43 1,616 687 3,885 23.5% 922.3 320 163
92 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 46 43 Wilson Sonsini 1432 4.1% 38 1,392 525 3,085 2.8% 1,028.5 283 175
94 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 47 47 Yingke 1419 8.5% 7 74 5 538 n/a 19,104.0 4,962 1,938
96 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 48 46 Morrison Foerster 1410 5.0% 38 1,340 506 3,052 11.4% 1,052.2 348 174
98 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 49 51 Proskauer 1392 13.1% 46 1,805 839 4,460 23.7% 771.0 235 145
100 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 50 50 Squire Patton Boggs 1361 9.6% 22 934 204 2,344 15.2% 1,458.0 458 127
102 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 51 57 Alston & Bird 1331 15.8% 48 1,424 684 4,086 25.6% 934.9 401 157
104 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 52 49 K&L Gates 1328 3.5% 19 767 149 1,511 7.3% 1,732.0 827 171
106 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 53 53 Ashurst**†† 1319 9.6% 35 617 219 1,774 6.0% 2,137.0 516 264
108 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 54 56 Foley & Lardner 1276 9.2% 26 1,189 306 2,298 10.9% 1,072.9 501 143
110 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 55 55 Winston & Strawn 1270 6.7% 32 1,363 440 3,521 9.4% 932.1 346 117
112 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 56 52 Perkins Coie 1259 4.0% 25 1,184 292 1,895 15.9% 1,063.6 467 164
114 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 57 54 King & Wood Mallesons 1250 4.2% 20 440 88 357 24.0% 2,841.0 701 701
116 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 58 61 Slaughter and May** 1244 11.2% 48 1,307 630 5,551 10.8% 952.0 116 108
118 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 59 60 Sheppard Mullin 1213 8.2% 35 1,258 435 2,434 4.7% 964.4 411 172
120 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 60 62 Cravath, Swaine & Moore 1200 9.1% 51 2,256 1,159 6,850 13.2% 532.0 116 90
122 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 61 59 Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz 1195 5.6% 65 4,476 2,910 9,036 6.2% 267.0 86 86
124 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 62 58 Arnold & Porter 1194 4.8% 43 1,244 532 1,636 1.6% 959.4 312 312
126 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 63 63 Troutman Pepper 1178 9.9% 40 1,089 440 1,918 18.0% 1,081.4 471 248
128 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 64 66 Fried Frank 1136 12.6% 50 1,583 790 5,180 18.9% 718.0 184 109
130 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 65 65 McGuireWoods 1114 9.2% 43 1,208 514 2,297 11.8% 921.8 405 206
132 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 66 68 Kim & Chang 1100 10.6% 10 775 77 468 8.1% 1,420.0 235 235
134 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 67 64 Clyde & Co** 1085 2.5% 21 393 82 989 6.8% 2,760.0 509 229
136 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 68 70 O'Melveny 1071 8.4% 46 1,408 649 3,049 10.9% 760.8 227 162
138 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 69 69 Faegre Drinker 1062 7.1% 40 1,001 401 1,276 12.7% 1,060.0 500 333
140 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 70 71 Baker & Hostetler 1053 8.4% 25 1,059 266 2,229 22.6% 994.1 429 119
142 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 71 67 Vinson & Elkins 1050 4.6% 45 1,542 696 4,016 10.1% 681.0 194 118
144 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 72 74 Polsinelli 964 12.6% 28 939 264 2,502 31.2% 1,027.0 582 108
146 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 73 80 Nelson Mullins 935 18.0% 39 957 377 2,219 32.7% 976.8 545 166
148 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 74 73 Seyfarth Shaw 933 6.0% 39 1,043 405 1,655 11.5% 894.3 446 219
150 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 75 94 Littler 916 n/a 37 696 255 802 n/a 1,316.0 519 424
152 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 76 72 Fragomen 900 1.1% 18 1,049 192 2,457 9.9% 858.0 156 67
154 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 77 77 Hunton Andrews Kurth 874 5.1% 31 1,182 361 2,090 22.0% 739.3 292 128
156 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 78 78 Pinsent Masons** 868 6.6% 29 429 123 1,017 3.8% 2,024.0 492 201
158 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 79 81 Katten 861 10.2% 37 1,287 478 2,667 20.2% 669.0 324 120
160 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 80 79 Venable 858 5.7% 32 1,089 343 1,364 1.9% 788.3 410 198
162 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 81 76 Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner* 857 2.6% 22 717 157 923 -2.8% 1,194.6 438 182
164 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 82 85 Baker Botts 820 11.8% 35 1,302 449 2,889 17.6% 630.2 249 98
166 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 83 82 Fenwick & West 793 3.0% 46 1,750 803 3,773 2.1% 453.1 138 97
168 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 84 83 Pillsbury 793 4.4% 30 1,218 371 2,415 1.9% 651.0 276 100
170 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 85 87 Simmons & Simmons** 785 9.1% 35 621 217 1,439 6.5% 1,264.0 346 191
172 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 86 89 Fox Rothschild 773 11.3% 33 828 271 1,109 25.0% 934.0 342 228
174 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 87 0 Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani 760 24.0% 15 570 85 2,035 n/a 1,334.0 661 56
176 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 88 86 Lewis Brisbois 760 5.5% 23 484 111 1,230 7.7% 1,569.0 950 142
178 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 89 88 Gowling WLG** 752 4.7% 0 515 0 0 n/a 1,460.6 627 385
180 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 90 91 Barnes & Thornburg 747 8.1% 45 970 433 1,274 2.7% 770.0 481 261
182 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 91 100 Blank Rome 743 18.7% 38 1,127 433 1,686 14.9% 659.1 356 169
184 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 92 93 Bird & Bird**† 741 8.5% 20 448 90 916 1.1% 1,655.0 405 162
186 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 93 96 Ogletree Deakins 719 10.5% 29 720 212 1,060 13.6% 998.0 428 199
188 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 94 90 Blake Cassels & Graydon 717 3.6% 39 1,043 406 1,010 2.4% 688.0 277 277
190 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 95 95 Cozen O'Connor 708 8.4% 33 905 295 1,170 2.7% 782.0 407 197
192 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 96 0 Husch 708 15.6% 25 754 192 1,006 20.8% 939.0 401 179
194 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 97 0 Addleshaw Goddard** 703 14.1% 27 440 118 1,276 4.3% 1,599.0 435 148
196 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 98 0 Taft 701 17.2% 42 851 358 1,171 19.0% 824.0 470 252
198 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 99 98 Mintz Levin 700 8.5% 40 1,304 523 2,570 22.2% 537.0 265 89
200 andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM andrew.mckenzie1 17/12/2025 12:30 PM 100 0 Jackson Lewis 697 11.7% 37 680 253 851 9.0% 1,024.6 463 304
2025 ranking 2024 ranking Firm Total revenue ($m) YOY revenue change % Profit margin RPL PPL PEP % change PEP Lawyers 2025 Total partners 2025 Equity partners 2025

*Financials reported in pound sterling and converted to US$ with average exchange rate of 1.2787 for 2024 calendar year
**Financials reported in pound sterling and converted to US$ with average exchange rate of 1.2761 for year ending March 2025
***Firm provided no information, £ estimates converted into US$
****Firm did not provide financial information, figures are estimated
† Firm declined to provide equity/non-equity split, equity partner numbers is estimated.
†† Net income and profit margin estimated
1 Firm did not disclose net income, profit before tax used instead. The merger of A&O and Shearman went live on 1 May 2024 so YOY revenue and PEP comparisons have been omitted as a result.
2 Firm did not disclose net income, partnership profit used instead. Lawyer numbers estimated
3 Firm did not disclose net income, pre-tax profit used instead
4 Firm did not provide financials, numbers with the exception of revenue are estimated
5 Figures are for the last full financial year for Herbert Smith Freehills before the 1 June 2025 merger with Kramer Levin to create Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer
6 PEP is for Eversheds Sutherland (International), the firm’s business outside of the US; other figures are for the full global firm.

Posted on

‘Technology pervades everything’: Addleshaw Goddard on why it has made tech a key sector as it eyes £1bn

‘Technology pervades everything, every client from retail and consumer to financial services,’ Damon Rosamond-Lanzetta, head of Addleshaw Goddard‘s tech sector explains. ‘I’m pleased that we are reinforcing that tech is important.’

While the firm has had a technology focus for some time, AG did not formalise tech as one of its core sectors until last year.

The move is part of the firm’s AG 2030 strategy, with technology – both internal and external – a core component of the ambitious plan to double in revenue to £1bn by 2030.

‘This sector brings together existing lawyers from across the firm to pool our sector knowledge and understanding in one place,’ Rosamond-Lanzetta says. 

‘We’ve been doing lots of work in the tech space,’ Andrew Johnston, the firm’s managing partner tells Legal Business. ‘Historically we haven’t brought that together and told the market the full story about what we do and our capabilities. It’s about bringing clarity and consistency… so our partners can sell it and build relationships.’ 

Rosamond-Lanzetta’s role is ensuring there is fluid cross pollination between various parts of the team. ‘If we’re talking to a retailer, we have a vast amount of sector knowledge whether that’s on economic dynamics or the regulatory side that we can bring in,’ he explains. 

Bringing these lawyers together has created a coherent, almost one-stop-shop, to make it easier for clients to access the most appropriate talent within the firm. ‘Technology pervades and supports all business, so we need to bring that approach to business.’

As well as streamlining and improving experiences, the new sector has allowed Rosamond-Lanzetta to spot new synergies within the firm: ‘We have Equinix as a client in France, a huge provider of data centres. We’ve done data centre deals in Germany, and we have our energy team looking at energy supply. These teams hadn’t always connected that much, so the role gives me the ability to bring them all together.’ 

‘Clients generally would like the answer to be yes or no, even if there is 40 pages of legal advice behind it’

Technical solutions themselves are becoming more bespoke, Rosamond-Lanzetta said. The days of single, monolithic tech systems which solve all the clients’ problems are gone. Instead, clients are looking for a ‘multiplicity of solutions that allows organisations to identify individual processes that work efficiently and add them into a broader solution,’ Rosamond-Lanzetta explains.

The method of delivering legal advice has also been changing with the adoption of new technologies. Just as Rosamond-Lanzetta is always in dialogue to see what other sector heads are doing in the technology space, he is also engaging with Kerry Westland, the head of the firm’s innovation group, to develop novel ways of presenting legal advice.

‘Clients generally would like the answer to be yes or no, even if there is 40 pages of legal advice behind it,’ Rosamond-Lanzetta says. Whether this is through dashboards, maps or traffic light pieces, the focus is on presenting the outcome and not the workings that led there. ‘In the tech space we recognise it is not about the technology itself but rather what it allows you to do. Whether the client wants improved customer engagement or a more efficient supply chain, what you’re selling is that outcome.’

Rosamond-Lanzetta asks his team to engage with Westlake’s innovation group right from the inception of a matter. ‘There is a real integrated and symbiotic relationship that feeds into how we differentiate ourselves and sell our expertise,’ he says.

This summer AG had an opportunity to support Haylo Labs on acquiring Plessey Semiconductors, one of the UK’s leading innovators of microLED technology. ‘James Dawson, one of our corporate partners, came to me and asked if this was something we were able to do,’ Rosamond-Lanzetta recalls. ‘I was able to say, “Yes, we know that business and we’ve got great expertise.” It is great when someone has an opportunity and we can bring these people together and deliver for the client.’

Naturally, Rosamond-Lanzetta is always horizon scanning for the next thing. He has one partner who is assuring him quantum computing is where the focus needs to be. Though the Financial Conduct Authority recently provided advice on preparing for quantum computing, it’s still unclear if it is five years away, or 20 years away.

‘It’s probably not my priority for 2026,’ he says, citing more pressing areas like agentic AI. ‘But having the sector gives us that community to share knowledge which improves our ability to deliver for clients.’

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Sullivan & Cromwell swipes Kirkland PE and tax duo

Sullivan & Cromwell has hired two partners from Kirkland & Ellis into its London office, the firm announced today (16 December), in the next step of the City buildout it began earlier this year.

The US firm has brought over private equity partner Aprajita Dhundia and tax partner Ian Ferreira, with the duo set to start in the new year.

The move marks the latest step in what has been a notable shift away from S&C’s traditionally unhurried lateral hiring strategy towards a more aggressive buildout, first signalled in September when the firm announced its hire of former Weil City head Mike Francies and restructuring partner Kon Asimacopoulos, who also joined from Kirkland.

Dhundia had been at Kirkland for just under 12 years, making partner in 2015, and has built a broad practice advising private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies on corporate transactions, including leveraged acquisitions, disposals, consortium and joint venture arrangements, and hybrid capital solutions.

She will join the firm’s private equity and M&A practices, coming into a team that has acted for financial sponsors such as Advent, Apex, Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Silver Lake.

Also making the move is Ian Ferreira, who joins S&C’s tax group after a decade as a partner at Kirkland. Prior to that, he spent four years at Weil as an associate in the fund formation group, and earlier trained and qualified at Clifford Chance.

Ferreira brings experience advising on tax matters across the asset management industry, including M&A and restructuring, fundraising, GP liquidity solutions, and management company structuring.

The dual hire underscores S&C’s determination to deepen its private capital capabilities in London at a time when competition among US firms for elite City talent and high-value transactional work remains intense.

While London is the firm’s second-largest office globally, it lags New York in terms of scale. As of September, the City office comprised 18 partners and 90 lawyers, compared with 650 lawyers in New York, including 114 partners.

Speaking to LB in September, S&C co-chair Scott Miller emphasised the need for scale, and cited a 50% increase in headcount as a growth objective for the office.

Commenting on the latest arrivals, co-managing partners Kon Asimacopoulos and John Horsfield-Bradbury said: ‘As we continue to execute on our growth plan in London, we remain focused on attracting only the very best lawyers who will add value to our clients as key parts of our integrated global team.’

They added: ‘Both Aprajita and Ian are standout practitioners whose arrival will further strengthen our position in the European market and put us in an even stronger position to support clients in their most complex, mission critical matters.’

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