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A trio of life sciences lawyers who worked together at Womble Bond Dickinson have joined Honigman's new Boston office. They bring significant intellectual property knowledge. Honigman is expanding its life sciences practice.
SourcesLaw.com — New York Law JournalLaw.com network — Legal News (FeedBlitz)
Buchalter announced that Scott Murray has joined its Dallas office as a Partner in the Corporate Practice Group and Chair of the Private Funds Practice. The announcement follows the firm's significant expansion across Texas earlier this month. Murray advises fund sponsors, investment managers and investors.
SourceAttorney at Law Magazine
Legal Business reports nearly 60 partners have left Weil or announced they intend to leave since January, with more than half of these exits since August. Many held office or practice leadership positions. The piece breaks down the remaining partnership by office and practice, and says the firm faces uncertainty over its future.
SourceLegal Business
Two partners from White & Case and two from Kirkland are joining the new Chicago office, which launched in August. The headline names Simpson Thacher as the firm adding the partners.
Ontier has added Bernadette Accili as a partner in Italy, where she will set up and lead the Tax practice. She has more than 25 years of experience. Ontier says it has added eight new partners in the last year across Ibero-America, Europe and the Middle East.
SourcesLawyerpressConfilegal
Cole Schotz P.C. announced that Utibe Ikpe has joined its Miami office as a Member in the Litigation Department. She joins from Meland Budwick, P.A., where she was a partner. She has over a decade of experience in commercial disputes.
SourceAttorney at Law Magazine
Haynes Boone is adding Partner Holly Melton to its Trademark and Advertising bench in its New York office. Melton is the former co-chair of the Advertising and Brand Protection Group at Crowell & Moring. She advises on advertising disputes, regulatory investigations and consumer protection compliance.
SourceAttorney at Law Magazine
FBT Gibbons is continuing the expansion of its New York office with two partners: Seth Liebenstein in Real Estate and Amir-Kia Waxman in Tax. Liebenstein is a former commercial real estate broker. Waxman has 14 years of experience advising on U.S. and international tax matters.
SourceAttorney at Law Magazine
DLA Piper has hired an Internal Revenue Service veteran, described in the title as an ex-IRS program director. The hire is meant to help multinational clients with tax issues that cross borders. The firm said this week.
SourceLaw360 — Legal Industry
King & Spalding adds a Clifford Chance real estate lawyer. Nelson Mullins grows venture capital expertise in NYC. Ogletree Deakins adds a three-lawyer traditional labor group in Chicago and a data security lawyer in San Francisco.
Doug Warner, co-head of Weil's global private equity practice, is departing for Paul Weiss. The departure is the latest in a series of partner exits at Weil Gotshal & Manges, which has brought on restructuring counsel following failed merger talks.
David Cheng, an immigration judge appointed during the first Trump presidential term, has moved into private practice. He left government citing ethical concerns about the second Trump administration's demands on the immigration courts. The headline places the move in New York.
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP announced Tuesday it has hired two attorneys from Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP. Partner exits from Weil continue in the days after news of failed merger discussions with Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP.
SourcesLaw360 — Legal IndustryBluesky — Big Law searchBluesky — Big Law search
Skadden took two regulatory partners from Weil: Andrew Dean and Christopher Mulligan. Both had been at Weil for fewer than three years after joining from the SEC.
SourcesLaw.com — The American LawyerBluesky — Big Law searchBluesky — Big Law searchBluesky — Big Law search
Hogan Lovells Cadwalader added Julissa Reynoso, former U.S. ambassador to Spain and Andorra, as a partner in Disputes in its New York office. Her practice covers government investigations, cross-border litigation and international arbitration. The hire comes four months after the Hogan Lovells–Cadwalader merger on 1 July.
SourcesConfilegalLaw360 — Legal IndustryBluesky — Big Law search
Private equity partner Mark Pflug has moved to Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. The firm continues to prioritize transactional hires this year.
Womble Bond Dickinson announced Friday that Robert Bello has joined its Houston office as a partner in the real estate practice. He will also work from the San Diego office. He has nearly two decades of experience, and his practice extends to renewable energy, oil and gas, and data center transactions.
SourceAttorney at Law Magazine
Law.com reports Milbank is bolstering its litigation practice with Andrew Thomas, leader of the SDNY securities task force. The firm wanted Thomas two years ago, before he became head of the securities task force.
SourcesLaw.com — The American LawyerBluesky — Big Law search
Latham has added Michael Macko, described as the CA Privacy Protection Agency's enforcement head, in San Francisco. He was previously a trial attorney for the SEC and an Assistant U.S. Attorney.
Sidley Austin has continued building its funds and finance practices, including a pair of funds partners from Kirkland & Ellis. Justin Solomon joined in Los Angeles to co-lead the private equity funds group with former Kirkland colleague John Muno, who joined in 2025. The roundup also mentions Milbank's new Chicago office.
SourceLegal Business
Paul Hastings loses a litigator to Latham, which is described as swooping for a tech specialist. Paul Hastings also hires a funds partner and continues to expand its fund finance team. No names, offices or dates are given.
TJ Kuban joins Orrick as a partner after roughly four years at Kirkland.
Fenwick announced the election of five lawyers to its partnership, effective January 1, 2027. The partners-elect, based in New York, Santa Monica and Silicon Valley, are Dargaye Churnet, Glenn Foulds, Adine Mitrani, Charles Moulins and Zachary Portnoy. Practices include patent disputes, IP, technology transactions, litigation and M&A.
McDermott's partner promotions are down 51%. They are also lower than pre-merger McDermott's final promotion round.
SourcesLaw.com — The American LawyerBluesky — Big Law searchBluesky — Big Law search
Cleary Gottlieb has promoted 15 lawyers to partner, effective 1 January 2027, down from last year's class of 20. Nine of the new partners are in the US, including four in New York. Washington DC has three.
SourceLegal Business
Peruvian firm AMC Lawyers promoted Jhon Malca Saavedra to senior partner. He had been director of the legal and tax area for four years and has almost 20 years of experience. The firm recently opened a criminal law area and hired public law counsel.
SourceLawyerpress
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett has hired four partners to its new Chicago office. The hires begin a growth plan intended to fill roughly 100,000 square feet of office space in Chicago.
Phillips Lytle is expanding into the Southeast with its first office there, on the South Carolina coast. Managing partner Douglas Dimitroff said the expansion is key to sustaining the growth built across the Northeast and Midwest.
SourcesBluesky — Big Law searchLaw.com — The American Lawyer
Honigman LLP established an office in Boston with three life sciences partners from Womble Bond Dickinson LLP. The firm announced it Monday. It is Honigman's first outpost in the Northeast.
SourcesThe Global Legal PostBluesky — Big Law searchBluesky — Big Law search
Above the Law's roundup says Weil called in a bankruptcy lawyer and put dissolution on the menu, with a timeline of how a $2.1 billion firm got here in seven months. It also says Weil's capital markets chief told associates to find new jobs and that Weil scrapped its summer associate pitch. It says one of Biglaw's biggest names is
SourceAbove the Law
Weil Gotshal & Manges has told its partners worldwide that the firm will be dissolved at year-end. Liquidity is sufficient for all outstanding partner draws. Large parts of the practice will be taken over team by team by competitors.
SourceJUVE
A Bluesky post says the author is floored that Weil is 'going under'. The author says they started their career at Weil in 1995. The post cites no source, gives no details and names no other firms or people.
Weil's management committee has opted to dissolve the firm. The firm was founded in 1931. It has suffered a stream of high-profile exits and failed to find a merger partner in recent weeks.
Weil's management committee meets to decide the fate of the firm. The firm, founded in 1931, has suffered a stream of high-profile exits and failed to find a merger partner in recent weeks.
Weil announced plans to wind down its operations, capping months of turmoil for the 90-year-old US firm. Its management committee recommended an 'orderly wind-down', announced 28 October. Partners are expected to vote on the dissolution within days.
A Bluesky post shares an Above the Law headline stating that Weil Gotshal is now discussing a possible wind-down. The post gives no further detail. Nothing in the item confirms a decision.
SourcesBloomberg LawABA JournalBluesky — Big Law searchAbove the LawBluesky — Big Law searchLaw360 — Legal IndustryAbove the LawAbove the LawBluesky — Big Law searchAbove the LawBluesky — Big Law searchAbove the LawBluesky — Big Law searchBluesky — Big Law searchBluesky — Big Law searchBluesky — Big Law search
A Bluesky post says U.S. law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges has tapped outside restructuring and merger specialists to help chart its future. It cites escalating partner departures and a breakdown in talks to combine with another firm. The post links to a Reuters article.
SourcesBloomberg LawBluesky — Big Law searchBluesky — Big Law searchBluesky — Big Law search
The American Lawyer article states that firms in Weil's position have few options. It states that, merger or no merger, Weil's current form is risky. No specific merger, partner, office or figure is named in the text.
Social post digest states Freshfields accidentally leaked a confidential AI plan and Weil Gotshal is in merger talks despite prior denials. It also mentions Justice Kagan critiquing the Supreme Court's influence on politics and a judge's recusal amid governmental misconduct allegations. Merger counterparty is not named.
SourcesThe American Lawyer (Law.com)Bluesky — Big Law search
A Bluesky post says Weil Gotshal and Willkie Farr have ended merger discussions and another top Weil partner is set to leave the firm. It attributes this to unnamed sources with knowledge of the matters, speaking to Law360 Pulse on Friday.
Fenwick & West LLP is reportedly the latest firm that will raise associate pay in the new year. The headline cites a $235K salary scale for associates.
Major, Lindsey & Africa's 2026 Partner Compensation Survey reports Am Law 200 average partner compensation of nearly $1.55 million in 2025, up 10% on 2024. Median compensation was $825,000, up 3%. Average billable hours were 1,656, down 4%.
SourceABA Journal
Plaintiff law firms pay first-year associates $131K on average, with raises and bonuses highly variable. About 49% of respondent firms had a structured or lockstep pay raise structure, and 21.5% had no official policy.
SourcesLaw.com — New York Law JournalLaw.com network — Legal News (FeedBlitz)
Above the Law roundup. Says Fenwick adopts the new Milbank salary scale, and that bonus season is near with firms weighing whether to match the Milbank scale. Also says Weil's next chair may leave before taking over, and that Simpson Thacher should consider opening a Weil wing.
SourceAbove the Law
Fenwick & West associates were told salary increases take effect January 1, 2027, for associates in good standing on the 1,950-hour track. Tier 3 salaries are listed at $440,000 and up, but Tier 3 and counsel pay is set individually. Individual memos come before December 31, 2026.
SourceAbove the Law
Bigger deals are stirring demand for elite legal talent at private equity firms. Their portfolio companies need entrepreneurial-minded counsel ahead of exit. The item is from Law.com's The American Lawyer.
Peter Werner, partner and chair of Cooley's business department, was quoted in The Information on the growth of fund pooling. The strategy, known as VC limited partner investing, has become increasingly popular as startup funding rounds have grown in size and frequency.
SourceCooley — media feed
Continuation funds let private equity sponsors move assets into a new fund and keep managing them, but create conflicts over valuation, fees and investor protections.
Law.com feature titled 'How I Made Practice Group Chair' with Vassi Iliadis of Hogan Lovells. Iliadis says effective leadership is more about listening than directing, and that the role is to bring together the right people, ask the right questions and create conditions for ideas to emerge.
Weil's successor walked away, and the firm now has a 'run on the bank' problem, per the post title. The post links to an Above the Law article. No further details are given in the item.
Connell Foley LLP has appointed Alexa C. Salcito as Co-Chair of its Labor & Employment Law Group, joining longtime group leader Michael A. Shadiack.
SourceAttorney at Law Magazine
Christianne Kerns announced she will step down as CEO and Managing Partner of Hahn & Hahn LLP at year-end. Partner Rita Diaz becomes Managing Partner and CEO on January 1, 2027. Kerns served seven years in the role, and will continue working with clients and serve on the Executive Committee.
A link in Above the Law's Morning Docket, attributed to Bloomberg Law, says Weil's incoming executive partner abruptly told the firm she is not taking the job.
SourcesLaw360 — Legal IndustryAbove the LawBluesky — Big Law searchBluesky — Big Law searchBluesky — Big Law search
Ramona Nee decided not to take a top leadership role at Weil. She relayed the decision to Weil's other leaders. The decision comes after mounting partnership exits.
SourcesLaw.com — The American LawyerBluesky — Big Law searchLegal CheekLegal BusinessBluesky — Big Law searchAbove the LawBluesky — Big Law searchBluesky — Big Law searchAbove the LawLegal BusinessAbove the Law
The leader of a Weil Gotshal & Manges practice group told junior lawyers to look for employment.
Kirkland & Ellis announced plans to break the BigLaw norm of reporting its annual financial results to the media. The post says other law firm leaders are likely examining the potential benefits and drawbacks of reduced financial transparency.
Kirkland & Ellis and Latham & Watkins have taken the lead of the global legal market. Fifteen years ago they started level with Magic Circle units; today the gap is large. Kirkland's latest revenue growth alone brings it to the scale of a mega-corporation.
SourceJUVE
A team of Baker Botts lawyers recently secured a pro bono victory in a federal copyright and trademark dispute involving two quinceañera dress businesses. A Houston federal judge ordered that the plaintiff take nothing against the firm's clients.
SourceThe Texas Lawbook
Connecticut has hired former U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar to defend the state's ban on assault weapons. The ban was passed after the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.
Above the Law's daily trivia feature refers to news that Weil Gotshal is winding down after 95 years. It compares this with Dewey & LeBoeuf's 2012 implosion, after which prosecutors charged three of the firm's top leaders with cooking the books to deceive lenders and auditors.
SourceAbove the Law
Former Jackson Walker partner Elizabeth Freeman filed an expedited motion to drop her $258,000 fee request in the IEH Auto Parts bankruptcy. She faces a looming discovery deadline. The motion heads off a fight with the U.S.
SourceThe Texas Lawbook
Davis Wright Tremaine is launching a new peer-based AI training program. It will assemble more than 70 employees for discussions on change management, experimentation and the future of legal work.
SourceLaw.com — The Recorder
A Georgia federal judge allowed a trustee who has accused BakerHostetler and an Atlanta-based attorney of legal malpractice to file a first-amended complaint. The trustee had requested to add claims of Georgia RICO Act violations.
SourcesLaw360 — Legal EthicsLaw360 — Legal IndustryBluesky — Big Law search
A&O Shearman advised Sequence HQ Ltd on its sale to Intuit Inc. A joint London and Chicago team ran the deal, led by partners Valentine Bleicher (Chicago) and Will Samengo-Turner (London). Sequence is an AI-native revenue management platform based in London and New York.
SourceA&O Shearman — news
A Bluesky post says the leader of a Weil Gotshal & Manges practice group told his junior lawyers to look for employment elsewhere because the firm's future has become uncertain. The practice group is not named. No corroboration is given.
SourcesBloomberg LawBluesky — Big Law searchBluesky — Big Law search
Linklaters advised Schneider Electric on a capital increase of about €6 billion, without preferential subscription rights, via an accelerated bookbuild. The proceeds help finance the planned acquisition of US-listed PTC Inc., valued at about €20 billion. The team covered French and US law.
Law.com's The American Lawyer published a piece titled "Weil's Journey: What the Data and the Market Say". No specific event, person, figure or date is given.
SourcesLaw.com — The American LawyerLaw.com network — Legal News (FeedBlitz)
Above the Law reports Weil Gotshal's weekend included all-day meetings, restructuring counsel and a résumé stampede. The rest of the text covers unrelated stories (a federal injunction, the Comey family and DOJ, a poll).
SourceAbove the Law
Weil, Gotshal & Manges is launching a 10-week AI-based program for 2027 1L summer associates, pairing students with its AI and innovation team. It includes Python coding lessons and active legal projects. Participants will get offers to return for the 2L program.
Latham & Watkins is partnering with Harvey to develop artificial intelligence tools focused on fund formation. AI leaders at Latham said the collaboration is in line with the firm's broader strategy for the technology.
SourcesLaw.com — The American LawyerLegal BusinessBluesky — Big Law search
Above the Law's Morning Docket for 10.27.26 links a WSJ item stating Weil spent the weekend trying desperately to save itself. Other links cover the Comey cases, judicial financial disclosures, an LSAT format change and a Clio rebrand.
SourceAbove the Law
Cooley advised Prana Therapies on its agreement to be acquired by Bolt Biotherapeutics. The deal is a sign-and-close reverse merger structured as a stock-for-stock transaction. Ken Rollins, Rama Padmanabhan, Madison Jones, Jenny Ge, Rajdeep Bains and Caroline Diemer led the Cooley team.
The World Series matchup is between Foley & Lardner LLP clients, the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. The matchup has pitted partners against one another. The firm is enjoying a good-natured intrasquad rivalry during the Fall Classic.
Jackson Walker and Quinn Emanuel are hired by the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders to pursue trademark violation claims. The Texas Supreme Court agrees to hear a dispute over municipal regulation of short-term rentals. The Fifth Circuit determines a federal law regulating switchblades is unconstitutional.
SourceThe Texas Lawbook
Kirkland and Gibson Dunn advised on the $13 billion all-stock deal combining EQT and Range Resources. The deal creates the largest natural gas producer in the U.S. Both companies hold substantial Appalachian assets.
Houston plaintiffs attorney Tony Buzbee urged a Texas state court to reject roughly $2.5 million in combined attorney fees sought by Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP and a Mississippi lawyer. The fees follow defeat of claims that they conspired with Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter to retaliate against Buzbee and two former clients.
SourceLaw360 — Legal Ethics
Freshfields has secured a role on Anthropic's IPO, advising the underwriters. The team is led by global co-head of US capital markets Sarah Solum and capital markets partners Calise Cheng and Phillip Stoup. A clutch of US firms is also advising.
SourcesLegal BusinessLegal Cheek
Clifford Chance advised CICC on its three-way merger with Dongxing Securities and Cinda Securities through mergers by absorption and share exchange. The combined group is expected to have assets of more than RMB1 trillion. The transaction was completed on 26 October 2026.
Kirkland & Ellis, Cuatrecasas and Latham & Watkins are advising on Pitchwise's Valencia CF deal. KKR co-founders and Denver Broncos owners take a 42% stake, and Peter Lim retains majority control.
Andrea Griswold of Skadden is quoted in a 'How I Made Practice Group Chair' feature. She says business development is the most important skill, which she thinks of as relationship development. She cites consistent excellent work, trust and credibility with clients and government.
Leaders for Wilson Sonsini and Freshfields have their names on Anthropic's IPO filing. The filing follows a confidential submission from June.
SourcesLaw.com — The American LawyerBluesky — Big Law searchBluesky — Big Law searchAbove the Law
Reed Smith advised Kartesia Asset Finance (KAF), managed by Flexam Invest, on a €35 million refinancing of a fleet of specialised vessels for the offshore wind sector in the United States. The transaction was finalised in September 2026. The Reed Smith team was Romain Farnoux, Alice Colarossi, Han Deng, Erij Akremi and Tommy Albright.
Judicial Notice column dated 10.25.26 lists a benchslap, a $50 million pay package for Alina Habba, the latest in 'As the Weil Turns,' and a new SCOTUS case about race in school admissions.
Confirmed items are announced by the firm or reported as fact by the cited outlets. Unconfirmed items are reports the firms have not confirmed. Every item links to its sources; we add nothing the sources do not say.
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