Good afternoon,

Law firms are racing to build hybrid debt-and-equity advisory platforms as capital solutions mandates grow. Top firms are competing for market share in a practice area that sits between leveraged finance, private credit, and M&A. Separately, Trump-aligned lawyers are moving to tap the DOJ's $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund on behalf of clients, a move that is drawing both business and criticism.

On the client side, SpaceX filed its prospectus for what is set to be the largest IPO in history, disclosing $18.7 billion in 2025 revenue. OpenAI is preparing its own IPO filing in the coming weeks. Nvidia beat Q1 earnings with $81.6 billion in revenue and guided Q2 to $91 billion. Markets rallied on Iran deal optimism, with oil dropping 5% and bond yields easing from multi-year highs.

Now, on to what matters for your practice today.

Today’s Talking Points

-Law Firms Build Hybrid Deal Advisory Platforms / DOJ Anti-Weaponization Fund Draws Clients

-SpaceX Files Prospectus, Reveals $18.7B Revenue / OpenAI IPO Filing Imminent

-$2B Quantum Computing Grants with Government Equity Stakes / GitHub Breach Hits Thousands of Repos

-Texas AG Probes Meta Smart Glasses / NAACP Sues xAI Over Data Center Emissions

-EQT Eyes Distressed Software / Elliott Ramps AI / Morgan Stanley Sees M&A across the Full AI Spectrum

-Iran Deal Optimism Lifts Markets / Oil Drops 5% / Bond Yields Ease from 19-Year Highs

Talent Strategy

Latest Moves

-Goodwin added Cheryl O’Connor for complex litigation and dispute resolution in Orange County, California.

What today's moves tell us: A quieter day on the lateral front after a busy string of announcements yesterday, but today’s action is in litigation and disputes.

Operational Strategy

Firms are building new advisory capabilities around hybrid capital deals, while the DOJ’s anti-weaponization fund is poised to create a new source of mandates.

Top law firms are competing to position themselves as one-stop shops for advice on hybrid transactions that span debt and equity. As investors look for creative capital solutions, firms with deep benches across leveraged finance, private credit, and M&A are winning the work. The race to build these integrated platforms reflects a shift in how sponsors and corporates are structuring deals.

On the government side, according to Bloomberg Law, Trump-aligned lawyers are seizing on the DOJ’s $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund to pursue claims on behalf of clients. Critics have called the fund a slush fund, and the lack of partisan requirements for filing claims has drawn scrutiny. Separately, Big Law innovation leaders are reporting being overwhelmed by the pace of technology-driven change inside their firms.

Practices

Capital Markets and IPOs

The two biggest tech IPOs in history are now on the runway, with the first prospectus dropping financials for the first time.

SpaceX filed its prospectus for the largest listing in history, disclosing that revenue rose 33% to $18.7 billion in 2025 as Starlink growth boosted sales. But losses widened and revenue growth slowed to 15% in Q1 2026. Gibson Dunn and Davis Polk are lead counsel, with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley running the underwriting.

OpenAI is preparing to file its own IPO in the coming weeks, targeting a fall debut. Goldman and Morgan Stanley are also working on that offering. Anthropic projects turning an operating profit in Q2 2026, and Andrej Karpathy, formerly a key figure at OpenAI has joined the company. Corporate clean energy commitments hit a record 27.5 GW of contracted capacity in 2025, driven by AI data center demand.

Technology, Regulatory, and Cybersecurity

Quantum funding comes with equity strings, a major cyber breach is likely to poison new code, and AI privacy probes are all creating new legal mandates.

The Commerce Department is awarding $2 billion in grants to nine quantum computing companies (including IBM and GlobalFoundries) and will take equity stakes in the recipients. Both stocks rose 12% premarket. The structure creates government contracts, regulatory, and CFIUS advisory work. GitHub disclosed that hackers breached its internal systems and stole data from thousands of repositories, triggering incident response and notification mandates.

Texas AG Ken Paxton launched an investigation into Meta’s AI-powered smart glasses over potential privacy violations, note that Texas requires consent for recording. The NAACP sued Elon Musk’s xAI and its subsidiary MZX Tech over gas turbines powering the Colossus II data center in a Mississippi neighborhood where roughly 39% of the population is Black. AI patent litigation is also expected to follow the pattern of smartphones, where filings surged in the years after commercial adoption – pointing to a wave of IP work ahead.

M&A and Private Equity

AI is the common thread across deal flow from chip-level investments to software buyouts and infrastructure power supply.

Nvidia beat Q1 FY27 earnings with $81.6 billion in revenue (up 85% year-on-year), guided Q2 to $91 billion versus $86 billion consensus, and raised its buyback to $80 billion. The company has committed $90 billion to AI deals across developers, cloud providers, and infrastructure suppliers. Morgan Stanley’s head of global technology M&A said AI acquisitions are coming across all sizes, a signal that deal flow is broadening beyond mega-cap targets.

EQT is ready to buy software companies left with funding gaps after the recent selloff, according to the firm’s private capital co-head. Elliott is ramping up its AI investment efforts. Bloom Energy agreed to provide fuel cell technology to Nebius Group for AI data center power, and LPs have accused Marc Rowan of misusing Apollo resources.

In sports, Arctos Partners bought a 10% stake in the Cleveland Browns, while Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro personally acquired stakes in the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders.

Where the Work Sits

***

The SpaceX prospectus moves the IPO from speculation to execution, and the OpenAI filing will follow shortly. Both listings will generate high-end securities, governance, and regulatory mandates concentrated in a small group of elite firms. Nvidia’s $91 billion Q2 guide and $90 billion in AI deal commitments are pulling M&A, venture finance, and antitrust teams into AI-related transactions across the size spectrum.

The $2 billion in quantum computing grants – structured with government equity stakes – will need government contracts, CFIUS, and regulatory advisory work. The GitHub breach triggers cybersecurity incident response and data notification mandates. The Texas AG’s Meta investigation and the NAACP’s xAI suit add to an already active docket of technology privacy and environmental litigation. As AI patent litigation builds, IP practices should expect a growing pipeline of patent prosecution and defense work.

The DOJ’s $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund is creating a new category of claims work for firms with government-facing practices. The push to build hybrid capital solutions advisory – spanning leveraged finance, private credit, and M&A – is reshaping how firms staff and sell their transactional platforms. Sports franchise transactions continue to generate sophisticated M&A, tax, and governance mandates as PE firms and individuals expand into NFL ownership.

Global Markets

Iran deal optimism snapped the losing streak, pulled oil down 5%, and gave bond markets their first relief in weeks.

The S&P 500 gained 1.08%, the Nasdaq rose 1.54%, and the Dow added 1.31% as progress in US-Iran negotiations eased energy and inflation fears. Brent dropped about 5% and WTI settled near $99. The US 30-year yield pulled back from Tuesday’s 19-year high of 5.19%, and the 10-year fell to 4.58% from a 16-month peak of 4.70%. Analysts note that if a deal reopens the Strait of Hormuz by June, Brent could ease to around $80 a barrel by year-end.

Walmart issued weaker-than-expected guidance as high gas prices and consumer uncertainty weigh on the outlook – a signal that the energy drag is reaching Main Street. In the US, the immigration crackdown is creating a measurable drag on some regional micro economies. Nvidia’s results after the bell added a further boost to sentiment, with the stock rising on the $91 billion Q2 guide.

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.