Good morning,

This week, 33 firms welcomed approximately 49 new partners across the BigLaw landscape, with Holland & Knight leading all firms by adding four partners across tax, private equity, regulatory, and maritime transportation policy in Chicago, Boston, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C. The regulatory, capital markets, and litigation corridors between Washington, D.C. and New York remain the busiest lanes for lateral movement, with healthcare regulatory and financial services continuing to drive sustained demand.

In the executive suite, Heineken nominated its first outside CEO, and Best Buy lost both its CFO and CEO within months of each other. Meanwhile, Nike poached Pfizer CFO David Denton to lead its turnaround finances. Across the banking sector, JPMorgan Chase made the week's biggest headline by naming Doug Petno and Troy Rohrbaugh co-presidents, reshaping the race to succeed Jamie Dimon and prompting the immediate departure of longtime succession candidate Marianne Lake.

Now, on to what matters for your practice today.

BigLaw Moves Sentiment

Healthcare regulatory, financial services, and capital markets practices continue to drive the lateral market, with Washington, D.C. remaining the center of gravity for regulatory hiring. The sustained movement into IP litigation, international trade, and antitrust suggests firms are positioning for heightened enforcement activity and cross-border disputes. Energy M&A hiring in Houston and life sciences transactions in California point to sector-specific deal flow that will generate legal advisory revenue through 2026 and beyond.

BigLaw Moves

A few quick patterns worth noting: This week saw 33 firms welcoming approximately 49 new partners. Holland & Knight welcomed the most partners this week (4), followed by Sidley Austin and McCarter & English (3 each). Jones Day and Ice Miller saw the most net departures (3 each), losing partners to Gibson Dunn, Sidley, Holland & Knight, and McCarter & English. Washington, D.C., New York, and Chicago were the busiest markets for lateral movement this week.

-Holland & Knight (4): Thomas Geraghty joined as a partner in the firm's tax, executive compensation, and benefits practice group in Chicago from Vedder. Monica Kwok joined as a partner in the firm's search fund and private equity practice in Boston from Goodwin. Lucy Marvin joined as a maritime transportation policy partner in Washington, D.C. from the Intermodal Association of North America, where she was VP of government affairs. Jill Keller Hengen joined as a regulatory partner in Atlanta from Jones Day.

-Sidley Austin (3): Taylor Stevens joined as a partner in its emerging companies and venture capital practice in San Diego from Jones Day. Lila Hope and Jennifer Raab joined as life sciences transactions partners in Palo Alto from Cooley, as the firm continues its lateral hiring spree.

-McCarter & English (3): The firm added three partners in Indianapolis from Ice Miller: Brent Huber to its insurance practice, Amy Berg to its environment and energy practice, and Louie Jorczak to its bankruptcy practice.

-Gibson Dunn (2): Michael Schneidereit joined as a business restructuring litigation partner in New York from Jones Day. Margaux Hall joined as a healthcare regulatory partner in Washington, D.C. from Ropes & Gray.

-O'Melveny (2): James Burns and Brant Brown joined as financial regulatory partners in Washington, D.C. from Cleary Gottlieb.

-Latham & Watkins (2): Pascal Mayer joined as a partner in its executive compensation, employment and benefits practice in New York from Ropes & Gray. Richard Offord joined as a data and technology transactions partner in London from Travers Smith.

-King & Spalding (2): Saranya Raghavan and Brian Nisbet joined as partners in its business litigation practice group in Chicago from Winston Taylor (formerly Winston & Strawn).

-Winston Taylor (2): Darshak Dholakia joined as chair of the firm's international trade practice and partner in investigations and white collar defense in Washington, D.C. from Dechert. Daniel Valencia joined as a partner and chair of its International Trade Commission practice in Washington, D.C. from DLA Piper.

-BakerHostetler: Mary Waller joined as a partner in the business practice group and healthcare team in Chicago. Waller joins from McDermott.

-Cahill Gordon & Reindel: Patrick Lafferty joined as a technology IP litigation partner in Washington, D.C. Lafferty joins from King & Spalding.

-Clifford Chance: Carter Olson joined as a finance and derivatives partner in Houston from Vinson & Elkins.

-Davis Polk: Bill Curtin joined as a Washington, D.C.-based partner in the M&A practice. Curtin joins from Hogan Lovells.

-Dentons: Cameron Kates joined as a corporate partner in New York from Yuga Labs, where he was chief business officer.

-DLA Piper: Andrés Loera joined as a partner in the finance practice in New York from Linklaters.

-Faegre Drinker: Jovana Crnčević joined as an international arbitration partner in New York from Withers.

-Foley Hoag: Jason Hipp joined as an international litigation partner in New York. Hipp joins from Jenner & Block.

-Freshfields: Daniel Möritz joined as an M&A partner in Munich from Hengeler Mueller.

-HSF Kramer: Carole Nerguararian joined as a finance and restructuring partner in Paris from Linklaters.

-Kirkland & Ellis: Christopher Michel joined as a partner to lead the Supreme Court and appellate practice in Washington, D.C., returning from Quinn Emanuel.

-Loeb & Loeb: Todd Matras joined as a partner in the finance department in New York from Cadwalader.

-Mayer Brown: Lauren Friedman joined to lead the international arbitration practice from King & Spalding.

-McGuireWoods: Brian Bewley joined as a partner in the healthcare and life sciences practice in Washington, D.C. from Reed Smith.

-Nelson Mullins: Dallin Wilson joined as a litigation partner in Boston from Seyfarth Shaw.

-Orrick: Andrew Duncalf joined as an energy and infrastructure partner in Tokyo from A&O Shearman.

-Paul Hastings: Brian Miner joined as a private equity partner in New York. Miner joins from Dechert.

-Paul Weiss: Austin Lee joined as a partner in the M&A Group within the Corporate Department in Houston (from Bracewell). (Paul Weiss is in ongoing negotiations to welcome James Sprayregen to the restructuring practice)

-Ropes & Gray: Jarryd Anderson joined as chair of the firm's financial services group in Washington, D.C. from Paul Weiss.

-Seyfarth Shaw: Matthew Huntsman joined as a partner in the labor and employment practice in Dallas from the Air Line Pilots Association, where he was labor relations counsel.

-Sullivan & Cromwell: Carla Hine joined as an antitrust partner in New York from Weil.

-Weil Gotshal: James Crooks joined as a capital solutions partner in London from Sidley Austin, focusing on capital solutions and leveraged finance.

-White & Case: Oreste Cipolla joined as an M&A partner in New York from Goodwin Procter.

-WilmerHale: Ben Fackler joined as a partner in its transactional department in San Francisco.

-Womble Bond Dickinson: Pang Zhang-Whitaker joined as chair of the firm's capital markets and securities practice in New York from Carter Ledyard Milburn.

Corporate Moves Sentiment

The CFO carousel between Pfizer, Nike, TPG, and Reinsurance Group of America illustrates how finance leadership has become the most liquid position in the C-suite, with seasoned CFOs commanding multimillion-dollar sign-on packages.

JPMorgan's succession reshuffling and $30 million retention bonuses per co-president signal the premium that financial institutions place on leadership continuity. For law firms, these moves generate mandates across executive compensation, M&A advisory, securities disclosure, and corporate governance.

Corporate Moves

Banking and Financial Services

-JPMorgan Chase named Doug Petno and Troy Rohrbaugh co-presidents, reshaping the succession race to replace CEO Jamie Dimon, who is expected to remain in the role for roughly three more years. Marianne Lake, a longtime senior executive and frequently cited internal successor, resigned effective immediately. Petno now runs the Commercial and Investment Bank solo, while Rohrbaugh takes over Consumer and Community Banking. Both received $30 million retention bonuses. Separately, JPMorgan hired former HSBC banker Jasper Reiser as head of EMEA Private Capital Solutions, relocated Tilman Pohlhausen to New York as global head of private capital advisory, moved Vineet Mishra from Singapore to London for private capital advisory, and brought on Jaiye Randle from Citigroup to the EMEA team.

-Barclays hired Greg Dalle from Citigroup as co-head of EMEA industrials in London.

-Citi hired William Mansfield from Deutsche Bank to become head of EMEA M&A.

Funds and Asset Management

-Exor named Benoît Ribadeau-Dumas deputy chief executive. CEO John Elkann is assuming the additional role of chair of Exor's investment management company Lingotto. Suzanne Heywood will step down as COO in January 2027.

-TPG named Axel André as CFO, succeeding Jack Weingart, who moves full-time to his role as CEO of TPG's global wealth solutions business. André joins from Reinsurance Group of America, which promptly appointed Laura Cockrill as his replacement.

-Pradeep Mohinani is retiring as a partner with Ares Management, where he focused on Asia credit.

-H.I.G. Capital hired Carlos Couret as managing director and head of its Spanish lower midmarket team.

Private Capital

-Parul Singh joined 645 Ventures as Investment Partner from Initialized Capital.

-Josh Elman joined a16z as a partner focused on consumer tech from Apple.

-Daniel Grinnan and Will Olson joined Braemont Capital as managing director and VP of business development, respectively.

-Margaret Kaczor Andrew joined Clarevia Ventures as venture partner from William Blair.

-Inspired Capital promoted Annie Shapiro to Partner.

-Littlejohn & Co. promoted Charles Leung to Managing Director.

-Overture Ventures promoted Emma McDonagh to Partner and COO.

-Base10 Partners hired Aaron Hinz as CFO from Industry Ventures.

-Larry Greenberg was named president of Willow Wealth.

-Alex Jones joined Headland Consultancy as head of private capital from Triton Partners.

Corporates

-Nike named David Denton as chief financial officer, effective August 17, hiring him from Pfizer where he served as CFO. Denton previously held CFO roles at Lowe's and CVS Health. His compensation package at Nike includes a $1.45 million base salary, a bonus target of 120% of base, long-term incentive awards of $11.5 million per year, and a $7.25 million sign-on payment replacing equity forfeited by leaving Pfizer. He succeeds Matthew Friend, who will step down after more than six years in the role. At Pfizer, Cecile Guegan will serve as interim CFO while the company searches for a permanent successor.

-Heineken's board nominated Rafael Oliveira, CEO of JDE Peet's, as chief executive, marking the first time the brewer has selected an outsider for the top role as it battles drinkers' sliding appetite for beer.

-Best Buy announced that CFO Matt Bilunas will step down effective July 31 after seven years. CEO Corie Barry is also leaving the role on October 31.

-CACI International appointed Dave Young EVP and COO from Lockheed Martin, where he served as VP and General Manager of National Security Space.

-Dollar General promoted Tom Hutchins to CTO and Travis Nixon to chief data and AI officer as part of nine new executive appointments.

-FirstEnergy appointed Daniel Puscas as CIO from Fortium Partners.

-Cincinnati Financial promoted Ryan M. Osborn to CIO as John S. Kellington retires.

-Crowell & Moring named Andrea Markstrom as CIO from Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft.

-El Car Wash named Ganesh Matha CTO from MGM Resorts.

-Elauwit appointed Nick Jones as CIO and COO from World Cinema.

-InnerActiv appointed Johnny Collins as CTO from Halcyon.

Heard on the Street

The BigLaw lateral market in 2026 continues at a pace that industry observers are calling historic. According to data published by Macrae, the 200 largest U.S. law firms added 3,521 lateral attorneys in Q1 2026, a 5.5% year-over-year increase, with partner hiring rising 9.4% to 979 moves, the highest level in six years. The data reflects a market where firms are increasingly focused on acquiring established talent with portable business rather than developing it from within

On the compensation front, Milbank reset the associate salary scale on June 2, raising first-year pay to $235,000 and eighth-year pay to $455,000, effective July 1. David Lat, writing on his Substack newsletter, observed that weighting the increase toward senior classes is a retention move aimed at the associates who are hardest to replace and most expensive to lose. More than a dozen firms have since matched, with Susman Godfrey going above the new scale, according to Above the Law.

In the C-suite, executive hiring has become less transactional and more strategic. Bloomberg Law described the latest pay raises as reflecting the start of a ‘prestige law’ era, where firms compete not just on compensation but on brand, practice quality, and client access to attract top talent.

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.