Good morning,

Lateral activity keeps running hot. McDermott Will & Schulte poached HSF Kramer's global energy head for London, Cleary Gottlieb added a funds partner from Fried Frank and a financial institutions partner from A&O Shearman, and Paul Hastings hired an M&A partner from Slaughter and May in London. Dallas is a white-hot lateral market as firms chase clients drawn to Texas. And McDermott also trimmed legacy Schulte associates less than a year after the merger.

The DOJ charged 30 people—including elite M&A lawyers—in a decade-long insider trading ring that ran through Big Law deal teams.

On the client side, Wall Street is lining up billions in data center IPOs led by a Blackstone vehicle next week.

Now, on to what matters for your practice today.

Today’s Talking Points

-McDermott hires HSF Kramer’s global energy lead / Cleary adds from Fried Frank and A&O Shearman / Paul Hastings picks up Slaughter and May M&A partner

-McDermott trims legacy Schulte associates / Big Law revenue grows despite private credit slowdown / $240B secondaries boom drives PE talent war

-DOJ charges M&A lawyers in massive insider trading ring / Data center IPO wave incoming / US restructurings head to London courts

-Carlyle’s $1.2B oil and gas ABS deal / Europe M&A volume highest since 2007 / Apollo CEO warns on private capital outlook

-Oil drops below $100 on Iran peace hopes / Norway hikes rates / Eurozone services PMI hits 62-month low / US productivity strengthens

-Anthropic inks SpaceX data center deal / Samsung hits $1T / Global debt reaches $353T

Talent Strategy

What today's moves tell us: Firms are building deep benches in energy, private capital, and cross-border M&A. Dallas is now a front-line talent market, and London and New York remain the primary landing zones for high-end lateral moves.

-McDermott Will & Schulte hired HSF Kramer’s head of global energy to its London office after 20 years at the firm.

-Cleary Gottlieb hired funds partner David Christmas from Fried Frank in London, building out its private capital practice.

-Cleary Gottlieb also added Jennifer Morton as a financial institutions partner in New York from A&O Shearman.

-Paul Hastings hired Mark Zerdin as an M&A partner in London from Slaughter and May.

-Wilson Sonsini added Ken Sanocki to its Energy and Climate Solutions practice in San Francisco.

-DLA Piper hired fund finance lawyer Rob McClean from Cadwalader as a partner in London.

-Paul Weiss continues to expand in Houston with hires from Kirkland and Latham. Davis Polk launched in Los Angeles with a senior Skadden litigator.

Operational Strategy

Post-merger integration is now under the microscope as firms recalibrate headcount, while Big Law revenue holds up even as key private capital clients face pressure.

McDermott Will & Schulte laid off more than a dozen associates—primarily from the legacy Schulte Roth & Zabel side—less than a year after closing the merger. The firm pointed to “shifting client needs,” a notable shift from chair Ira Coleman’s 2025 comments that the deal was not designed to cut headcount. The cuts rattled nerves across Big Law at a time when rising energy costs and slower client payments are already squeezing margins.

Big Law revenue still grew in Q1 despite a rough quarter for the largest alternative asset managers that drive much of the top firms’ deal flow. The $240 billion secondaries boom is turning that once-niche practice into a talent battleground, with firms racing to build teams to capture growing GP-led transaction work. DLA Piper promoted more than 60 partners as the firm shifts to a single global leadership structure.

Practices

A major DOJ enforcement action is putting law firm compliance under the spotlight.

The DOJ charged 30 individuals—including elite M&A lawyers—in what it describes as a decade-long insider trading ring run through Big Law deal teams. The scheme allegedly used advance knowledge of pending mergers to trade ahead of announcements. The case will likely trigger internal reviews at firms across the Am Law 100 and generate demand for compliance advisory work.

A wave of data center IPOs is forming while European dealmaking is running at a pace not seen in nearly two decades.

Wall Street banks are lining up billions in data center IPOs, with a Blackstone data-center acquisition vehicle set to launch next week alongside DayOne Data Centers, potentially raising close to $7 billion combined. Brookfield-backed CSquare has filed confidentially. Europe’s M&A volume hit its highest since 2007, and the European bond market posted its busiest session on record. On the pharma side, Bayer agreed to buy Perfuse Therapeutics for $2.45B, and Italy’s Angelini Pharma is acquiring Catalyst Pharma for $4.1B. Eli Lilly sold $9B of investment grade bonds to fund M&A.

US restructuring fights are moving to London as lawyers test cross-border tools, and private capital managers face growing pressure.

London courts are becoming a venue for American corporate debt restructurings. Fossil used UK Part 26A to exchange $150M in bonds, avoiding a full US Chapter 11 and seeing equity value jump from $80M to $250M. New Fortress Energy is similarly using UK restructuring law. Carlyle teamed with Diversified Energy on a $1.2B oil and gas venture that securitizes future well production revenue to private credit investors—a structure that blends PE, energy, and structured finance. Apollo CEO Marc Rowan privately warned investors about the economic outlook for private capital, even as AUM topped $1 trillion for the first time.

Where the Work Sits

The DOJ’s insider trading case will generate white collar defense and internal investigations work across multiple firms. Compliance advisory mandates are likely at every firm touched by the scheme, and securities litigation will follow from affected trades. Any firm with exposure to the individuals charged will need outside counsel for regulatory response.

The data center IPO pipeline means capital markets, securities, and M&A teams at the lead banks and their outside counsel are entering a busy stretch. European M&A activity at 2007 levels is pulling in cross-border corporate and competition lawyers, particularly as regulators in Brussels and London scrutinize deal flow. Eli Lilly’s $9B bond sale, Bayer’s $2.45B acquisition, and Angelini’s $4.1B deal all create high-end M&A and finance matters for top firms.

Cross-border restructuring work is growing as US companies test UK courts. Part 26A matters require English law capabilities alongside US bankruptcy knowledge, which benefits firms with London-New York platforms. Carlyle’s ABS-structured energy deal mixes PE, private credit, and structured finance advisory. As Apollo and other large allocators face pressure on their private credit books, restructuring and fund finance practices stand to pick up additional mandates.

Global Markets

Oil’s sharp sell-off on US-Iran peace signals is reshuffling risk across asset classes, while central banks in Europe face tougher inflation calls.

Brent crude dropped below $100 a barrel—down nearly 8%—after reports that the US and Iran are nearing a 14-point memorandum to end the war. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both closed at fresh all-time highs on the news. Gold surged to $4,691, copper rallied 3.4%, and the dollar fell to its lowest level since the Iran war began. US labor productivity grew 2.9% year-over-year in Q1, the strongest gain since 2024, as businesses increased AI investment. Private sector payrolls rose by 109,000 in April. US fuel exports hit a record high.

Norway’s central bank raised rates 25 basis points to 4.25%, its first hike since 2023 amid persistent inflation. The Fed’s Musalem flagged greater concern over inflation than the job market, while Goolsbee warned that rising productivity could actually lift inflation if it drives spending. The Eurozone services PMI slumped to a 62-month low of 47.6, the first contraction in nearly a year. Hong Kong’s economy grew 5.9% in Q1. And global debt hit a record $353 trillion with signs of capital flows shifting away from the US.

That’s the rundown. See you next where law meets the markets.

-The BigLaw Markets Team

*DISCLAIMER: BigLaw Markets analyzes publicly available information, filings, press releases, and news stories published by reputable media sources to deliver newsletters that highlight the drivers of demand for legal services.