On The Merits
On The Merits takes you behind the scenes of the legal world and the inner workings of law firms. This podcast offers in-depth analysis on the latest trends, challenges, and opportunities shaping the business of law and the legal industry overall. You'll gain insights into how the latest government actions, policies, and business developments are impacting the industry and hear from leading attorneys, legal scholars, industry experts, and our own team of journalists as they share their perspectives on the forces driving change.
Episodes
Sidley Leader Yvette Ostolaza Shares Growth Strategy
Sidley Austin LLP crossed $3.74 billion in revenue last year and has its sights set on $4 billion — but according to its top leader, the number is a byproduct, not the goal. The real question is whether the firm is built for what comes next.
Today on On the Merits: Yvette Ostolaza, chair of Sidley's management committee, sits down with Bloomberg Law reporter Meghan Tribe to discuss strategic late
K&L Gates Goes on the Offensive in the Legal Talent Wars
When it comes to winning the legal industry talent wars, the best defense is a good offense, according to K&L Gates' global managing partner, Stacy Ackermann.
Her firm is "going out into the market" rather than "being in a reactionary mode of 'Let's see what comes to us and what the headhunters bring to us,'" Ackermann said.
She spoke to Bloomberg Law editor Chris Opfer on our podcast, On Th
Say Goodbye to the Era of Never Changing Law School Rankings
For a long time, the top dozen or so law schools in US News & World Report's annual rankings stayed remarkably consistent, with Yale for example holding the top spot every year since the rankings debuted in 1990. But not this year.
Yale is now no longer at the very top of the highly influential rankings, which were unveiled earlier this week, having slid down to number two. While this may seem
John Quinn Warns of Generational Clash When Firms Get Investors
Law firms bringing in outside investors is one of the hottest topics in the legal industry right now. John Quinn, founder and chairman of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, says firms that want to take the cash need to figure out how to avoid alienating their younger attorneys.
Non-lawyer investment isn't common yet in the US, but some firms are experimenting with different ownership models—esp
Why Polsinelli Lawyers Won't Get Billing Credit for AI Training
The chair of law firm Polsinelli says he doesn't want his attorneys—and especially not his junior attorneys—to use AI legal tools grudgingly. But the firm will not be giving associates billable-hour credit for learning how to use the technology.
"They need to be very, very good at utilizing these tools and investing in themselves," Chase Simmons said on Bloomberg Law's podcast, On The Merits. "
AI Poses Private Capital Opportunity, Mayer Brown Chief Says
Outside investors circling law firms may help some shoulder the growing costs of artificial intelligence, according to Mayer Brown's Jon Van Gorp.
"I could see private capital providing specific funding for AI with a use agreement between the firm and the AI vehicle where it's tailored, just like litigation funding," Van Gorp, the firm's chairman, said on Bloomberg Law's On The Merits podcast.
Trump's U-Turn in Big Law Fight Shows White House Fury for Firms
The Trump administration surprised everyone last week when it first dropped an appeal in its fight against four law firms and then, less than 24 hours later, reversed itself and declared the case to be back on.
The White House and Justice Department have yet to explain what prompted the dizzying two-day stretch. Late last week, a DOJ lawyer instead pressed an appeals court to overturn four sep
Goldstein Still Has Cards to Play Even After Guilty Verdict
Prominent lawyer and high-stakes poker player Tom Goldstein was convicted on some, but not all, of the 16 criminal charges against him when his federal trial wrapped up this week. But Goldstein's legal fight may be far from over.
Several issues came up during the trial that could be fodder for a successful appeal, according to Bloomberg Law reporter Holly Barker, including a dispute over where
Law Firms Can't Afford to Miss Out on Data Center Boom
Large law firms are going all in on the nationwide data center build out—nevermind that lurking AI bubble.
On today's episode of our podcast, On The Merits, we hear from Bloomberg Law reporter Roy Strom about several examples of law firms deploying multidisciplinary practice groups to solve complex problems for data center builders. Roy also talks about why it may not pay for firms to approach
DEI at Law Firms Remains Live Issue a Year Into Trump's Term
It's been over a year since Donald Trump returned to the White House and almost immediately made it a priority to end diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at large law firms. There's evidence that this effort is bearing fruit for the president, even after the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission walked away from investigations into several firms.
The EEOC recently told a court it droppe
AI and the Coming Mismatch Between Law Schools and Law Firms
The future lawyers of America were taking the LSAT this weekend. But, by the time they get their JDs in a few years, law firms may have replaced many of their entry-level associate jobs with AI. That's a fear Mike Spivey hears a lot about these days.
Spivey is a former law school administrator who is now an admissions consultant working with schools and prospective students. He says law school
New Epstein Revelations Bring Massive Upheaval at Paul Weiss
Legal giant Paul Weiss is getting a new chairman for the first time in nearly two decades, but this transition is definitely not happening in a planned, orderly fashion.
Brad Karp stepped down from the role yesterday after the latest tranche of Justice Department documents showed he had surprisingly close ties to disgraced financier and convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein—far closer than w
Even Cravath, Wachtell Must Now Fight 'the Talent Wars'
There was a time when elite Wall Street firms such as Cravath or Wachtell seemed to rise above the lateral tug-of-war among other firms. That doesn't appear to be the case any longer, with a handful of partners from both of these firms announcing their departures for competitors last month.
"I don't think these are one-offs," legal recruiter Sabina Lippman said. "It's a pattern."
Firms like
Litigation Financiers Won't Be Ambushed Again on Capitol Hill
Last year, the litigation finance industry was nearly taxed out of existence by a measure Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) tried to attach to a big tax and spending package.
The measure, which would have imposed a 41% tax on litigation finance profits, didn't become law. But it did spook many who work on this fast growing $16 billion industry.
Two attorneys have responded by launching the American
Goldstein to Put His Cards on the Table at His Criminal Trial
The trial of Tom Goldstein, the elite Supreme Court advocate and co-founder of SCOTUSBlog who was charged with criminal tax evasion after years of playing ultra-high-stakes poker games, continues this week in Maryland. Bloomberg Law reporter Holly Barker, who's there covering the proceedings, joins us to talk about it on our podcast, On The Merits.
Barker lays out what Goldstein's defense will
Latham & Watkins M&A Leaders on the 'Year of the Mega Deal'
Latham & Watkins beat out its rival Kirkland & Ellis in our annual League Tables ranking of M&A activity for 2025. And on this episode of our podcast, On The Merits, the firm's M&A co-chairs talk about what went down in what one called "the year of the mega deal."
Alex Kelly and Paul Kukish spoke with Bloomberg Law reporter Mahira Dayal about why Latham was able to work on almost 800 deals in 202
Law Firm Crackup Comes Amid Anti-Plaintiff Mood in Delaware
There's never a good time for a law firm to see one of its most prominent partners leave and take several attorneys with him. But this is especially bad timing for Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann.
The firm specializes in representing shareholders suing companies in Delaware, the incorporation capital of the world. But ever since Elon Musk reincorporated Tesla outside the state in response t
Trump, Mergers and AI: A Tumultuous Year in the World of Big Law
It's not a very controversial statement to say that Donald Trump's attacks on law firms were the biggest Big Law story in 2025. But, according to the guests on today's episode of our podcast, On The Merits, the ramifications of those attacks are still playing out and may spill over into next year and beyond.
Bloomberg Law editors Chris Opfer and Alessandra Rafferty said the attacks are still af
Cadwalader Loses Its Long Struggle to Stay Independent
New York's oldest law firm answered the outstanding question surrounding its ability to remain independent with a resounding no when it announced a merger with Hogan Lovells last week.
As Bloomberg Law reporter Meghan Tribe tells it, Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft had been in a gradual decline since the 2008 global financial crisis. It also failed to adapt to the new reality of the legal industry
Everyone Hates Early Law School Recruiting, But Everyone Does It
It's become common now for firms to recruit elite law students even before the end of their first semester of their first year of law school, something that would have been unheard of before the pandemic.
That's a far cry from the days when firms waited until the summer before the 2L year to start recruiting students through on campus interviews. It's a trend that hurts everyone involved, accor
Client Relationships Suffer as Lawyers Put Billing on Autopilot
Now is the time of year when many law firms pressure their attorneys to get their clients to pay bills before the end of the year. It's something that clients loathe just as much as their attorneys, according to today's guest on our podcast, On The Merits.
Eric Dodson Greenberg, the general counsel of Cox Media Group, said the lawyer-client relationship can suffer when firms bill too aggressiv
OpenAI's GC Chang Shares Insights from 'Extremely Stressful' Job
OpenAI is a relatively new tech startup with the litigation demands of a massive Fortune 500 company. That means that Che Chang, its general counsel, has had to scale up his department fast.
On today's episode of our podcast, On The Merits, Chang speaks with Bloomberg Law reporter Aruni Soni about how he hires lawyers to work for the ChatGPT maker and how OpenAI works with its outside law firms
Brad Karp Heckling Shows Anger at Law Firms Hasn't Faded
It's been a difficult year for Brad Karp, chair of Wall Street law firm Paul Weiss. In January he suffered a heart attack and then, a few months later, he chose to strike a pro bono deal with the Trump administration to stave off a punitive executive order.
In a recent speech at a gala event in New York, Karp said the latter was more painful than the former. But during that speech, a fellow at
McDermott Wooing Outside Investment May Portend Industry Shakeup
As Big Law looks for ways to scale up, McDermott Will & Schulte says it's looking at outside investment in the firm—a move that could set off a paradigm shift in how law firms run their businesses.
If it does sell a part of itself to investors, McDermott would be by far the largest publicly known firm to take this step. Outside investment represents a new source of capital for law firms looki
Top In-House Lawyers Absorb More Responsibility, Much More Money
The top lawyers at the largest publicly traded companies in America are being asked to wear many hats at once—and also getting paid handsomely to do so.
That's the takeaway from a recent story by Bloomberg Law senior reporters Brian Baxter and Andrew Ramonas, who crunched data from SEC filings of S&P 500 companies and found out how much these attorneys are making. Alphabet's J. Kent Walker Jr. le
Ropes & Gray Is Exception, Not the Rule, for Non-Equity Partners
Most of the biggest law firms in the US have a two-tier partnership model, where some partners have equity in the firm while others don't. So it was a bit of a surprise when the firm Ropes & Gray announced last month it will be sticking with its one-tier model.
Is this a sign that the trend toward non-equity partners is starting to reverse? Not according to today's guests on our podcast, On The
Firms That Did Trump Deals Forgot They Were Law Firms, Says Prof
On this episode of our podcast, On The Merits, we take another look at the reasoning behind the deals law firms struck with the Trump administration earlier this year to avoid punitive executive orders.
We previously heard from Yale Law School professor John Morley, who said these firms had no choice because an executive order could have kickstarted a devastating run on the partnership. Today's
Goodwin Chair on Revenue Rise and New Competitors for Law Firms
Goodwin Procter made a splash this month when it announced it had raked in $2.7 billion in the 2025 fiscal year, a record for the firm and a 12% gain from the previous year
On this episode of our news podcast, On The Merits, we hear from the firm's chair, Anthony McCusker, about how Goodwin managed this feat. He tells Bloomberg Law reporter Tatyana Monnay that he attributes the firm's recent su
What a GC Wants to Hear From His Outside Law Firms on AI
Today's guest on our podcast, On The Merits, is a general counsel who is looking for more from the law firms trying to win his business. Specifically, he wants to hear more about how and why they're using AI.
Eric Dodson Greenberg is the top lawyer at Cox Media Group, which owns dozens of TV and radio stations across the country. He recently wrote a series of articles for Bloomberg Law about ho
Trump Attacks Could Have Killed Law Firms, Yale Prof Says
President Donald Trump's attacks on law firms have hand their intended impact, even as courts shoot down executive orders against some as unconstitutional and the details of White House deals with others remain unclear, according to Yale Law School professor John Morley.
"The point here is to extract a demonstrative form of obedience," Morely said. He said he's already seen a "chilling effect"
NY's Oldest Law Firm Loses Key Partners, Faces Tough Choices
You don't get to be the oldest law firm in New York without weathering some rough spots. But this may be one of the most difficult periods Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft has ever gone through.
The Wall Street firm, which this week announced a new managing co-partner, has lost nearly three dozen partners just this year. And not all of them have left because of the firm's controversial deal with
Every Law Firm Should Build Their Own AI, Yale Professor Says
Law firms "have gold sitting on their hard drives," according to Yale Law School professor Scott Shapiro.
Shapiro has enthusiastically embraced the use of generative AI in his classroom. He says firms should draw on the mountains of proprietary information at their fingertips to build their own tools.
"If only they would train the large language models correctly, they, I believe, would get a
Data Center Explosion Hands Big Law Cross-Practice Opportunities
On today's episode of On The Merits we hear from three lawyers working in the white hot world of data center projects. Mike Rechtin and Justin Stolte are, respectively, real estate and energy partners with Latham & Watkins, and Michelle Kallen is an appellate and advocacy partner at Steptoe.
"The latest number that I've seen is a $50 billion annual investment in the data center construction ar
Why Law Schools are Making a 'Big Mistake' in AI Era Admissions
The number of law students who graduated in the class of 2024 spiked compared to previous years. That worries Nikia Gray, the head of the National Association for Law Placement.
"I think it's going to be a big mistake for law schools to continue to admit large law school class sizes," she said, "when we can predict with some pretty good certainty that GenAI is changing the business models of fi
Trump's Law Firm Deals May Have Hurt Headcount: David Lat
It's still not clear what, if any, fallout the law firms that struck pro bono deals with President Donald Trump earlier this year will face. But analyzing attorney movements over the last six months provides one data point.
On average, law firms that settled subsequently lost attorneys more attorneys than those who fought the president in court, according to data obtained by Bloomberg Law colum
Wachtell Has Its Fingerprints All Over Delaware Law Changes
Delaware recently changed its corporate laws to make them more favorable to companies being sued by their shareholders and the mega-firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz was deeply involved in that process.
That's raising some eyebrows because Wachtell is also a go-to firm for companies in Delaware, often called the corporate capital of the world. Lawyers from other prominent firms, like Wilson S
King & Spalding 2,400 Hour Rule Is Just the Norm, Recruiter Says
A memo from law firm King & Spalding to its associates saying they need to log 2,400 "productive hours" a year surprised some in the legal world. But today's guest on our podcast, On The Merits, says it shouldn't have.
It's always been the case that lawyers need to go beyond meeting their billable hours quotas and put in some non-billable hours in order to advance their careers, according to J
Chicago Law Dean on AI: You Won't Be Able to Entirely Avoid It
Like most schools worried about academic integrity, the University of Chicago Law School used to discourage its first-year students from using generative AI but now it has crept into that first-year curriculum. Despite its overall inevitability, William Hubbard, a professor and deputy dean, says he's surprised by how often he has to encourage AI-skeptical law students to at least try it out.
Hu
What's KPMG Up to With Its New Law Firm in Arizona?
The Big Four accounting firm KPMG has taken advantage of relaxed rules in Arizona to start a law firm there, but the company has broader ambitions outside of the state.
KPMG says it doesn't want to compete with established players in the legal industry, but Big Law leaders are privately expressing concerns. That's according to Justin Henry, a Bloomberg Law reporter who's the guest on today's ep
Big Law United to Save Lucrative White Collar Defense Work
The largest law firms in the country are fiercely competitive, so it's notable when nearly 40 of them agree to sign on to a legal brief. That's what happened in an appellate case that could have eroded the attorney-client privilege—and the firms' lucrative white collar defense practices.
They breathed a collective sigh of relief earlier this month when the Sixth Circuit overturned a lower court
Ex-Skadden Partner Talks Taking on Trump With New Solo Firm
Benjamin Klubes is a Big Law expat who just founded his own litigation-focused boutique firm—and he's not alone.
Other former partners at larger law firms are now either moving to smaller litigation-only firms or, like Klubes, starting their own. In this episode of our podcast, On The Merits, Klubes talks with Bloomberg Law reporter Tatyana Monnay about why he thinks these boutique firms are be
Law Firms Look Like Enticing Targets for Outside Investors
If it wasn't already clear, it is now: well-capitalized investors want a piece of the US legal industry.
The latest example of this trend came this week when the litigation funder Burford Capital announced that now, in addition to financing individual lawsuits, it also wants to buy minority stakes in entire law firms. This comes after the consulting giant KPMG won a license earlier this year to
Why Do More Big Law Lawyers Want Off the Partner Track?
The allure of making partner doesn't hold the same appeal that it used to for many Big Law associates. Some of them are swallowing a pay cut to jump to a smaller firm.
That's according to Major, Lindsey & Africa partner and recruiter Kate Reder Sheikh, who wrote about the trend for Bloomberg Law. She spoke to Bloomberg Law editor Jessie Kokrda Kamens for our podcast, On The Merits, about why so
When a Law Firm's Tech Venture Goes South, the Lawsuits Fly
The law firm Norton Rose Fullbright thought it was taking a great leap forward when it brought on two partners and acquired the legal tech startup they co-founded, NMBL Technologies. Now, the firm and the startup are mired in a messy litigation battle against one another.
On this episode of our podcast, On The Merits, Bloomberg Law reporters Alex Ebert and Evan Ochsner get into the unusual agre
Did Associates Who Quit Over Trump Deals Burn Big Law Bridges?
A wave of associate lawyers resigned in protest from their Big Law jobs earlier this year after their firms struck controversial pro bono deals with the Trump administration. Do they have any regrets?
According to Bloomberg Law reporters Justin Henry and Elleiana Green, not really. They spoke with several former associates who say they stand by their decisions to, as one legal recruiter put it,
Risky Bet on Figma Paid Off Huge for Silicon Valley Law Firm
Fenwick & West's decision to seek equity in one of its tech startup clients is now, with the benefit of hindsight, looking like a stroke of genius.
Figma Inc. last week had a blockbuster IPO and Fenwick made money not only advising its client on going public, but also through the firm's ownership of almost 900,000 shares in the design and collaboration software company, according to Bloomberg L
Why Susman Godfrey Lawyers Are Happy to Tackle Risky Litigation
Susman Godfrey has shown it's willing to take on high-risk, high-reward lawsuits with unconventional fee structures. Its leaders say this risk appetite is ingrained in the firm's culture.
"When we vote to take a case, it is a case of the firm," Kalpana Srinivasan, a managing partner at the firm, said on our podcast, On The Merits. "You hear sometimes there may be other places where there are a
Milbank Fights Trump DOJ, Despite Law Firm's White House Deal
Neal Katyal and Gurbir Grewal, lawyers who command well over $2,000 an hour for their services, are slashing their rates to defend two New Jersey municipalities against a Justice Department lawsuit over their "sancutary city" policies.
This on its own would be noteworthy, but what makes it even more interesting is that their law firm—Manhattan-based Milbank LLP—reached a deal with the White Hou
DLA Piper Chief to Associates: Be Curious, Not 'Overly Partisan'
Junior lawyers can climb the ranks faster than ever before, according to DLA Piper leader Frank Ryan, but they also should think about checking their politics at the door.
Associates "need to be mindful of over rotating into politics," Ryan, the firm's global co-chair, said in the latest edition of Bloomberg Law's On The Merits podcast. "We live in an overly partisan world. Yes, you have strong
Fired Davis Polk Lawyer on Why He Criticized Trump, Palantir
Former Davis Polk associate Ryan Powers started writing op-eds for local newspapers earlier this year criticizing the Trump administration's agenda. A few months later, the Wall Street firm he worked for fired him.
Powers' story is one example of how some Big Law lawyers have had to make tough career choices since the president retook office.
On this episode of our podcast, On The Merits, Po
Cahill’s Washer: ‘Rethinking Overall Strategy’ at Storied Firm
Herbert Washer pushed Wall Street's Cahill Gordon & Reindel to expand its business after taking the helm, but he doesn't see the century-old firm joining the ranks of Big Law's largest players.
"For us, the key has been to pick areas where we can be top of the market," said Washer, who took over from as Cahill’s sole leader last year. "You don't want to enter a market space where you're going
Law Firms Win When Shareholders Go to War With Their Companies
Activist shareholders can make things difficult for the companies they target. But they represent a significant source of revenue for the law firms that represent those companies—and their shareholders.
Bloomberg Law reporters Drew Hutchinson and Andrew Ramonas recently dug through the data on which firms did the most work on shareholder fights in the first half of this year. And Hutchinson tal
Big Law Has a New M&A Top Dog—Can It Keep Kirkland at Bay?
Latham & Watkins took the perch as Big Law's leading M&A dealmaker in the first half of the year, surging past rival Kirkland & Ellis as things started to look up for firms whose fortunes are closely tied to corporate transactions.
Many law firms were expecting a spike in M&A deals in the first quarter of this year, but that largely failed to materialize. Now, with 2025 half over, we're startin
McDermott Chief Bets on 'Scale' With Schulte Merger
McDermott Will & Emery just put the finishing touches on a big merger with another firm, and on today's On The Merits podcast, we speak to the firm's chairman, Ira Coleman, about the firm's audacious goals, why he thinks it's important to listen to everyone in the organization, and the firm's bet on tech.
"If you're going to put $30 million in AI this year, you have to have scale," he told podc
What Does the Future of DEI Programming for Law Firms Look Like?
Since the Supreme Court's affirmative action ruling, and especially since Donald Trump's anti-DEI campaign, many law firms have swiftly moved to alter or dismantle their programs promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, or DEI.
So where does that leave people like Oyango Snell, a full-throated, unapologetic advocate of DEI in the legal industry?
Snell is a former law professor who now run
Alternatives to Bar Exam Met With Dueling Relief and Skepticism
The bar exam is in a state of flux. A new "NexGen" test is about to debut, while several states now offer licenses to attorneys who haven't taken the exam at all.
These bar exam alternatives, many of which originated as emergency pandemic measures, are proving successful in smaller states, like South Dakota and New Hampshire, and even some larger ones, like Arizona and Oregon. But a nationwide
Foley & Lardner's CEO Doogal on the Beauty of Smaller Markets
Don't call it "flyover country." The firm Foley & Lardner has seen success opening offices in mid-tier cities such as Nashville, Raleigh, N.C., and Salt Lake City over the past four years.
On today's episode of our podcast, On The Merits, Bloomberg Law's Roy Strom speaks with Foley's chairman and CEO, Daljit Doogal, about why he's taken his firm beyond the traditional Big Law power centers of C
The Mysterious Forces Behind Anti Litigation Finance Ad Blitz
We don't know who is running ads on podcasts advocating for anti-litigation finance legislation. But, given how many enemies the practice has among conservatives and big business, the list of potential culprits is huge.
Bloomberg Law reporter Emily R. Siegel wrote a story about these podcast ads, which call for restrictions on third parties who fund lawsuits in exchange for a cut of any awards
Paul Weiss Post-Trump Deal Exits: Catastrophe or Set Back?
It's never a good look for a law firm to lose partners in bunches, and that's what's been happening at Paul Weiss in the past few weeks.
Some of the firm's high-profile litigators have announced their departures, following the deal it struck with the Trump administration to avoid a punitive executive order. Ironically, the firm negotiated the White House agreement—which includes a pledge to pro
Bondi's Loss May Not Be the End of Attacks on the Bar
Brad Bondi, a lawyer at Paul Hastings and brother of the current Attorney General, failed yesterday in his bid to become president of the DC bar association. But criticisms and attacks from conservatives on these legal groups, at both the state and national level, will likely continue.
That's one of the takeaways from this week's episode of our podcast, On The Merits, in which Bloomberg Law rep
Karl Racine Breaks Down Latest Trends for State AG Practices
One would think that the Trump administration's pullback on enforcement across the federal government would mean fewer clients for attorneys to defend. But that would be overlooking another important law enforcer in our system: state attorneys general.
Karl Racine and Jason Downs, both partners at the firm Hogan Lovells, are bolstering their practice specializing in helping clients under scruti
Some Summer Associates Are Unforgettable—But Not in a Good Way
Being a summer associate at a law firm can be tricky. On the one hand, you want to be remembered; on the other hand, you don't want to be remembered for the wrong reasons.
On today's episode of our podcast, On The Merits, we hear from Kate Reder Sheikh, a partner in the associate practice group at Major, Lindsey & Africa, about the pitfalls that summer associates can fall into—from over-imbibin
The Law Firm That's Defying Trump on DEI Recruitment
Dozens of law firms have sought to de-emphasize, or outright kill, their diversity initiatives since the Supreme Court's 2023 affirmative action decision—and especially since Donald Trump retook office this year and started issuing punitive executive orders that mention them.
However, one firm is now doing the opposite. Susman Godfrey announced last week it would expand its annual prize awarde
Cutting Deals With Trump: Some Law Firms Win, Others Lose
We're starting to see the impact of a string of deals reached over the last two months between President Donald Trump and top law firms.
Some firms appear to be moving on—and even thriving—after pledging hundreds of millions of dollars in free legal services on causes backed by the White House to avoid punitive executive orders like those Trump has lobbed at others. At least three firms that ma
Trump's War on Law Firms Puts In-House Counsel in Tough Spot
The Trump administration's attacks on law firms are having ripple effects on the general counsel whose companies employ those firms.
Top attorneys at many large companies may be considering whether to switch the firms they use as outside counsel, according to Bloomberg Law reporter Brian Baxter. In some cases, GCs don't want to work with a firm that's under attack from President Donald Trump; i
Trump's Law Firm Deals Now Clearer, but Still Far From Clear
Shortly after law firms started striking deals for free legal services with the White House, Bloomberg Law reporter Meghan Tribe appeared on our podcast, On The Merits, to talk about how much ambiguity there was around what the firms were agreeing to and how these agreements would be enforced.
Now, Tribe and her colleague Brian Baxter have seen a copy of one of these deals but many unanswered q
100 Days of Uncertainty and Seismic Shifts in the Legal World
The legal industry is in a state of tremendous flux after just 100 days of the second Trump administration, with the biggest law firms in the country under attack and the Department of Justice's independence in question.
Three Bloomberg Law reporters covering three different beats teamed up to write a story chronicling everything that's been happening in the legal world since Donald Trump retoo
Trump's Attacks on Firms Scramble Law Students' Career Paths
Many students at elite law schools end up working in Big Law for at least a spell. The Trump administration's attacks on the industry, and deals with some of its top players, are making the choice of where to start their careers much more complicated.
Students are stuck between two very uncertain options: go to a firm that struck a deal with the White House, despite concerns about a lack of pri
If Trump Keeps Defying Courts, What's the Endgame for Judges?
Judge James Boasberg began the process of holding Trump administration officials in contempt of court last week as he struggles to get them to follow his orders around the deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members.
That contempt process was halted a few days later by an appellate court, but Boasberg's actions raised questions about how it might play out if he or another federal judge did eve
Trump Orders Could Implode Law Firms With Frightening Speed
Like a run on a bank, law firms can quickly collapse if a few rainmakers pick up and take their books of business elsewhere—a vicious cycle that's hard to stop once it gets going.
That's the takeaway from a law review article by Yale professor John Morley. He says a partner exodus can happen quickly because there's a huge financial incentive not to be one of the last partners remaining at a firm.
Trump Gets Millions in Pro Bono Work, But Details Still Fuzzy
Law firms are striking deals with President Trump to avoid getting hit with a punitive executive order, and all of these deals include pledges of tens of millions of dollars in pro bono legal work. In this quickly changing landscape, it appears that the biggest law firm in the country, Kirkland & Ellis, is considering one of these commitments to the White House.
However, the details of how these
Skadden Is Heading Down a 'Craven Path,' Associate Says
"I cannot imagine a worse deal than the one that Skadden came away with."
That's the opinion of one of the law firm's own associates, Rachel Cohen. The Chicago-based finance lawyer has grabbed the spotlight by criticizing Skadden and Paul Weiss for reaching agreements with President Donald Trump as he targets Big Law through a series of executive orders. She's also slammed others for staying quie
Big Law Banker Sees ‘Mood Shift’ as Market Rebound Hopes Delayed
The US legal industry was already in a tough spot before President Donald Trump started attacking Big Law firms.
Gloomy economic conditions and tariff-related uncertainty quickly tanked law firm leaders' expectations for a rebound that followed Trump's election. They're looking to stay off the president's target list in a wave of executive orders, while navigating a slowdown in deals activity and
How Law Firms Singled Out by EEOC for DEI Practices Can Respond
President Donald Trump has targeted major law firms in his second term in unprecedented ways. He hit three Big Law firms with executive orders that pose potentially existential threats to those firms. Then on March 21, the Trump administration issued a broad memo targeting any lawyer who files “frivolous, unreasonable, and even vexatious litigation against the United States.”
On this podcast episo
M&A Activity Disappoints, But All's Not Lost for Deals Lawyers
After Donald Trump won the presidential election, dealmakers at corporations—and the Big Law lawyers that represent them—were optimistic about the prospects for increased corporate mergers and acquisitions.
But the first two months of 2025 have fallen far short of expectations. Not only have deal tallies been lower than hoped, they are the lowest in five years.
On this episode of our podcast, On
Trump's War on Big Law: 'No Firm Too Big to Be Attacked'
The White House has now hit several of the largest law firms in the world with directives that strip their attorneys of security clearances and order federal agencies to scrap contracts they hold with the firms' clients.
Paul Weiss is the most recent target, but there's reason to believe it won't be the last. Bloomberg Law reporter Tatyana Monnay says it's now clear that "there's no firm too big t
Kirkland's Blackstone Connections Pay Off in Big Haul
Kirkland & Ellis, the world's largest law firm by revenue, brought in more than $100 million last year from just one of its clients: Blackstone Inc.
That's more than double the amount Kirkland earned from the private equity giant in 2023. The dollar amount itself is eye-popping, but also notable is that we even know this information at all. Blackstone was required to disclose the payments in inves
How the Anti-Bribery Law Pause Will Impact Companies and Big Law
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been a mainstay of corporate culture for the last quarter-century, and has cost companies millions, sometimes even billions, of dollars in fines. And that’s before you start counting the lawyers’ fees.
This law, used to prevent US businesses from engaging in bribery to win foreign business, has seen a major uptick in enforcement over the last 25 years. And, ov
'Dirt Lawyers' to Megadeals: How Houston Became Big Law Hot Spot
Houston's legal market wasn't always one of the most competitive arenas in Big Law. But today, 14 of the 15 largest law firms by revenue have an office in Space City.
The market's growth has mirrored the explosion of the country's energy industry over the past decade or so. And the competition among law firms continues to evolve, as the biggest firms fight for their share of a market once dominate
Agency Lawyers on the Job Market Should Think Broadly in Search
The federal workforce has been hit with a wrecking ball since Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency started its campaign to fire and furlough federal employees. Meanwhile, law firms are seeing a flood of resumes from attorneys who have lost their jobs and from lawyers who want to leave behind the new instability of federal employment.
However, law firms have limits to how many attorneys
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