Good morning,

Last week's lateral moves tell a clear story about where BigLaw is placing its bets. Holland & Knight and Barnes & Thornburg led all firms with three partner additions each. Gibson Dunn picked up two partners in London real estate and New York tax. Across 37 firms welcoming 45 new partners, the moves clustered around energy, white collar defense, labor and employment, and real estate, with notable capital markets and restructuring hires reflecting continued demand in distressed debt and deal-making. Several firms drew from Davis Polk, Sidley Austin, White & Case, and Willkie, each losing two or more partners this week.

On the executive side, Macquarie Group named Greg Ward as its next CEO, succeeding Shemara Wikramanayake after eight years. OpenAI added Nubank CEO David Vélez and BNY Mellon CEO Robin Vince to its board as the company prepares for a Wall Street debut. Allstate brought in a new CFO from CoStar Group, PVH Corp. tapped Sephora's global CFO, and Ulta Beauty recruited its new CTO from Domino's Pizza. In venture capital, a16z added a general partner from Lightspeed for its American Dynamism fund, and JPMorgan reshuffled its German M&A leadership.

Now, on to what matters for your practice today.

BigLaw Moves Sentiment

This week's lateral activity points to sustained demand in energy and infrastructure, white collar defense, and labor and employment, three practice areas tied to enforcement cycles, regulatory change, and workforce disputes.

Firms investing in national security, trade regulation, and antitrust work are positioning for advisory revenue tied to geopolitical tensions and cross-border investment scrutiny.

The restructuring and capital markets hires from Davis Polk signal that distressed debt and deal-making advisory remain revenue drivers.

Real estate activity across five firms and three countries suggests continued deal flow in commercial and residential property markets by the asset management client cohort.

BigLaw Moves

A few quick patterns worth noting: This week saw 37firms welcoming 45 new partners. Holland & Knight and Barnes & Thornburg welcomed the most partners this week (3). Energy and infrastructure emerged as a standout practice, with Thompson Hine launching an entirely new energy group, while Reed Smith and Orrick both added energy partners. White collar defense and labor and employment each accounted for multiple hires across different firms and geographies.

Firms Welcoming Multiple Joiners

-Holland & Knight added Brian Balduzzi as a partner in its global wealth and family office practice in Philadelphia and New York from Faegre Drinker. The firm also brought on Jeff Salinger as an environmental transactions partner in New York from DLA Piper, and Fred David as a finance partner in Boston from Akin Gump.

-Barnes & Thornburg welcomed Jeff Ansley, Andrew Robbins and David Last as partners in the white collar, compliance and investigations practice. Ansley and Robbins joined the Dallas office, while Last joined Washington D.C.

-Gibson Dunn added Angus Lennox as a real estate partner in London, previously at Blackstone and Simpson Thacher. This marks the firm's second real estate partner hire in London in two months. The firm also brought back James Manzione as a tax partner in New York from DLA Piper.

-Paul Hastings added Elizabeth Oger-Gross and Tolu Obamuroh as partners in its international arbitration practice in Paris, both from White & Case.

-Sheppard Mullin hired Dan Collins and Levi Giovanetto as partners in its governmental practice in Chicago from Katten Muchin Rosenman, where they will lead the office's white collar defense and investigations team.

-Thompson Hine launched a dedicated energy practice by adding Robert L. Nelson Jr. from Polsinelli and Peter Bekker as partners, along with two senior counsel, across Los Angeles, New York, Silicon Valley, and Washington, D.C. The firm's managing partner framed the launch as part of a broader 2026 strategic initiative.

Firms Adding Single Joiners

-A&O Shearman added restructuring partner Joseph Brown in New York from Davis Polk & Wardwell.

-Ashurst added M&A tax partner Ryan Gaglio in Los Angeles from Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth.

-Baker Donelson added litigation partner David Black in Columbia, South Carolina, from Nexsen Pruet.

-Baker McKenzie added FDA regulatory partner Khelin Aiken in Washington, D.C., returning from Johnson & Johnson for deals work.

-Bracewell added white collar and cybercrime defense partner Dina McLeod in New York, previously chief of the complex frauds and cybercrime unit in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.

-Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney added antitrust litigation shareholder Anthony Van Vuren in Washington, D.C.

-Burr & Forman added real estate partner Andrew Ward in Tampa from Byrd Campbell.

-Clark Hill added labor and employment partner Sul Kim in Atlanta from Seyfarth Shaw.

-DLA Piper added litigation partner Thomas J. Moran in Vancouver from Norton Rose Fulbright, strengthening its Canadian litigation bench amid U.S.–Canada trade tensions.

-Foley & Lardner added labor and employment partner Cathryn Le Regulski in Washington, D.C., from Sidley Austin.

-Greenberg Traurig added private equity shareholder Brian Arnfelt in Chicago.

-Hogan Lovells Cadwalader added M&A partner Kristin Gerber in Boston from Goodwin Procter.

-Hunton Andrews Kurth brought back environmental policy and regulated industries partner Elizabeth Horner in Washington, D.C. Horner is a former Senate Environment Committee staffer.

-K&L Gates added labor and employment partner Brodie Erwin in Raleigh from Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton.

-King & Spalding added finance and restructuring partner Gloria Kim in New York from Proskauer Rose.

-Kirkland & Ellis added real estate partner Wesley Smith in Dallas from Willkie Farr & Gallagher.

-Latham & Watkins added capital markets partner Jennifer Ying Lan in New York from Davis Polk & Wardwell.

-Littler Mendelson added EEOC shareholder Richard Mrizek in Chicago from Jackson Lewis.

-McCarter & English added business litigation partner Mark Salah Morgan in Newark from Day Pitney.

-McGuireWoods added debt finance partner Michelle Williamson in Houston from Kirkland & Ellis.

-Mintz added venture capital and emerging companies partner Michael Torosian in San Francisco from Baker Botts.

-Olshan Frome Wolosky added corporate M&A partner Jonathan Bernstein in New York from Sadis & Goldberg.

-Orrick added energy and infrastructure partner Antoine Bouzanquet in Paris from Willkie Farr & Gallagher.

-Proskauer Rose brought back private funds partner Emily O'Brien in Boston from Gunderson Dettmer.

-Reed Smith added energy and natural resources partner Brian Rogers in New York from Bracewell.

-Seyfarth Shaw added real estate partner Chris McCoy in Charlotte from King & Spalding.

-Simpson Thacher & Bartlett added derivatives partner Netanya Clixby in London from Sidley Austin, reinforcing its finance bench in the London market.

-Smith Currie & Hancock added government contracts partner James Dougherty in Washington, D.C., from McGuireWoods.

-Squire Patton Boggs added pensions partner Amanda Small in Manchester, England, from Eversheds Sutherland. Small will head the firm's pensions practice in Manchester. The firm also welcomed Jacob Hochberg as a principal in the firm's public policy practice group from Venture Government Strategies.

-Sullivan & Cromwell added national security and foreign investments partner Charles Capito in Washington, D.C., from Morrison & Foerster.

-Womble Bond Dickinson added residential real estate partner Richard Sharpe in Leeds, England.

Corporate Moves Sentiment

CFO turnover at Fortune 500 companies continues at a steady clip, with Allstate, PVH, and Ally Financial all installing new finance leaders this week. The pattern continues to favor CFOs with cross-industry experience at large-cap firms.

OpenAI's board additions from Nubank and BNY Mellon create advisory opportunities for law firms with financial institutions practices and IPO readiness capabilities. The German investment banking reshuffling at JPMorgan and Evercore signals cross-border M&A advisory demand in Europe.

Government-to-private sector moves from the White House cyber office and Capitol Hill to venture capital and pharma point to growing demand for regulatory and public policy expertise in the private sector.

Corporate Moves

Investment Banking

-Evercore hired investment banker Christian Kames from Lazard and Philip von Malsen-Plessen from UBS to build out its German advisory business.

-JPMorgan appointed Henrik Jansen and Simon Schneider as co-heads of its M&A team for Germany and Austria. Jansen stepped up from the bank's German investment banking coverage team, while Schneider joined from Deutsche Bank.

-Macquarie Group named Greg Ward as its next CEO, elevating a company veteran behind the firm's aggressive retail banking expansion. Ward will succeed Shemara Wikramanayake, who is stepping down in November after eight years leading the finance and investing conglomerate as one of Australia's most high-profile CEOs.

-UBS named four bankers as country heads for its financial sponsors group across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Asset Managers and Financial Institutions

-a16z (Andreessen Horowitz) welcomed Connor Love as a general partner on its American Dynamism team, which backs defense, infrastructure, and government technology companies. Love was previously a partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners.

-Allstate appointed Christian (Chris) Lown as EVP and CFO, effective August 3. Lown most recently served as CFO of CoStar Group and previously as CFO of Freddie Mac. He will succeed Jess Merten, who will continue as President of Property Liability.

-Ally Financial appointed Mark Mathewson as Chief Information and Data Officer, effective July 20. Mathewson most recently served as divisional CIO for Capital One Financial's retail and commercial banking units, succeeding Sathish Muthukrishnan.

-Aqualis Partners added Hong Pan and Steve Talbot as partners.

-Collaborative Fund added Tristan Walker, founder of Walker & Company Brands, as a partner focusing on the firm's private equity strategy, Collab Holdings.

-DCVC named Luis Bacalao as its chief legal officer. Bacalao was previously at Khosla Ventures.

-Littlejohn & Co., a Greenwich, Connecticut-based private equity firm, promoted Brian Michaud to Managing Partner.

-VC firm Playground Global added Alexandra Seymour as senior director for government affairs. Seymour most recently served as principal deputy assistant national cyber director for policy in the Office of the National Cyber Director.

Corporates

-GitLab appointed Thomas Lloyd as chief business and legal officer, combining responsibility for legal, partnerships, corporate development, and strategy. Lloyd was previously an executive at New Relic.

-OpenAI added Nubank CEO David Vélez and Bank of New York Mellon CEO Robin Vince to its board of directors as the company moves toward a Wall Street debut. Nubank is the largest digital bank in Latin America, and BNY Mellon is one of the world's oldest financial institutions. The appointments signal OpenAI's push to court enterprise financial services customers and expand commercial revenue streams.

-PVH Corp. appointed Alexis Rollier as CFO, effective early September. Rollier currently serves as Global CFO and Global COO of Sephora. He will succeed interim CFO Melissa Stone, who assumed the role in January after previous CFO Zac Coughlin left for Sirius XM Holdings.

-Takeda Pharmaceuticals added Matt McMurray as associate director. McMurray previously served as chief of staff for Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.).

-Ulta Beauty appointed Kelly Garcia as CTO, effective August 31. Garcia most recently served as EVP and CTO at Domino's Pizza. He succeeds Mike Maresca.

Heard on the Street

Law360 Pulse reported this week that BigLaw grew more selective on second-quarter lateral hires, with associate and counsel moves declining while partner hiring remained relatively active. The data suggests firms are tightening their criteria for mid-level laterals while continuing to invest aggressively in partner-level talent with portable books of business.

The American Lawyer noted that Latham & Watkins has added at least 18 lateral partners globally in 2026 so far, with most slotting into transactional practices, a pace above the same period last year. The firm's appetite for capital markets and M&A talent is consistent with broader market demand for deal lawyers as firms position for an expected uptick in transaction volume.

Forbes Business Council highlighted that the fastest-growing C-suite roles are concentrated at the intersection of growth, product, and trust, with titles mattering less than accountability and cross-functional ownership.

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.