There’s
a lawt going on—so here’s your 1-minute update on this week’s top mergers, lateral moves, and hiring trends.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Karen Dunn, Bill Isaacson, Jessica Phillips, and Jeannie Rhee have exited Paul, Weiss to launch a boutique litigation firm. The move follows internal backlash over the firm’s $40 million pro bono deal with the Trump administration, which required them to drop DEI initiatives.
👉 Apologies if I mispronounced your name—but as litigators, I trust you’ll know exactly where to file the complaint.
According to Reuters, McDermott Will & Emery and Schulte Roth & Zabel are in late-stage merger talks. The result? A $2.8B firm—and a name that might require a footnote.
👉 With all those ampersands and surnames, the name is so long the stationery will include it as a footnote.
The American Lawyer confirms that Herbert Smith Freehills will merge with Kramer Levin on May 1 to form Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, now among the top 20 global law firms by headcount.
Firm Prospects notes that lateral hiring in 2025 is off to a slow start. Many partners are waiting on finalized 2024 compensation before making moves. Partner hiring is steady—associate hiring, not so much.
👉 Translation: no one’s jumping ship until they see how much gold is in the lifeboat.
If your name’s not in the firm title yet, but your brand deserves to be seen, let’s talk.
Because nothing screams “trust me with your legal matter” like a blank LinkedIn profile and a bio that just says “Lawyer.”
Let’s fix that:
https://calendly.com/katiethelawt
That’s your update for now. But there’s always A Lawt Going On, so I’ll see you soon—and I promise to keep it brief, but never boring.