Good Morning,

A former Willkie Farr lawyer has pleaded guilty and turned informant in what the DOJ calls a decade-long M&A insider trading ring, with 30 individuals now charged. Sidley Austin is losing a four-partner private equity team across New York and London—three of whom joined from Paul Weiss less than three years ago—while Paul Weiss itself is cutting litigation associates. And firms are still posting strong numbers: Big Law finances remain solid despite growing client-side turmoil.

On the client side, Angelini Pharma agreed to buy Catalyst Pharmaceuticals for $4.1B, Nvidia is investing $2.1B in data center operator IREN, and private credit lenders led by Blackstone are taking control of Medallia in a restructuring that wipes out Thoma Bravo’s $5B equity stake. U.S. payrolls surprised to the upside while a federal court struck down Trump’s 10% global tariffs.

Now, on to what matters for your practice today.

Today’s Talking Points

-Insider Trading Shakes Big Law / Ex-Willkie Lawyer Turns Informant in Decade-Long M&A Ring

-Sidley Loses Four-Partner PE Team / Paul Weiss Cuts Litigation Associates / McDermott Hires HSF Kramer Energy Lead

-Big Law Revenue Holds Despite Client Tumult / Greenberg Traurig Adds Real Estate Shareholders

-Pharma M&A, Nvidia’s $2.1B IREN Bet, Apple’s Antitrust Setback / Cloudflare Cuts 1,100 in AI Pivot

-Medallia Restructuring Wipes Thoma Bravo / Apollo Hits $1T AUM, Commits to Daily Pricing on $830B Book

-U.S. Jobs Beat at 115K / Tariff Ruling Strikes Down 10% Levy / US-Iran Clash in Hormuz

-Trump-Xi Summit Next Week / UK Labour Losses Mount / Michigan Consumer Sentiment Ahead

Talent Strategy

What today's moves tell us: Private equity teams are shifting as sponsors recalibrate, energy practices are seeing competitive raids in London, and associate headcount adjustments at top firms suggest a selective tightening of litigation benches.

-Sidley Austin is losing a four-partner private equity team across New York and London. Three of the departing New York partners joined from Paul Weiss less than three years ago.

-McDermott Will & Emery hired the global energy sector head from HSF Kramer in London, ending a 20-year tenure at the firm.

-Greenberg Traurig added Carlos Sugich and Carlos Freaner as shareholders. Sugich joins as co-chair of the firm’s Global Hospitality practice.

-Paul Weiss cut litigation associates, and McDermott made similar reductions. Other firms may follow.

Operational Strategy

Big Law revenue continues to hold up even as several marquee clients face operational and financial stress. An insider trading scandal, meanwhile, raises questions about reputational risk.

Firm finances are tracking strong. According to Bloomberg Law, turmoil at some of Big Law’s largest clients has not dented firm earnings so far. The picture may shift as macro pressures build, but for now, demand across practices and rate increases are keeping the top line healthy.

The DOJ charged 30 individuals in a decade-long M&A insider trading ring. A former Willkie Farr & Gallagher attorney pleaded guilty and cooperated as an informant, feeding deal tips to a network that traded on material nonpublic information. The case is one of the largest insider trading prosecutions in years and puts a spotlight on information controls inside Big Law deal teams. The DOJ attorney leading the government’s fights against Trump’s law firm executive orders is also set to resign.

Practices

M&A and Private Equity

Pharma M&A is active and private equity restructurings are creating billable mandates for creditor-side teams.

Angelini Pharma agreed to buy Catalyst Pharmaceuticals for $4.1B in cash at a 21% premium. Roche is acquiring biotech PathAI for $1.05B. CK Hutchison is weighing further telecom asset sales after its $5.8B VodafoneThree exit. On the restructuring side, private credit lenders including Blackstone, Apollo, and KKR will inject $100M and take control of software firm Medallia, converting $2.8B of debt to equity and wiping out sponsor Thoma Bravo’s $5B equity stake. Shareholder Southeastern Asset Management is pushing Mattel to explore a sale.

Antitrust and Litigation

Antitrust enforcement is shifting toward state attorneys general, while courts delivered new rulings in high-profile tech cases.

The Supreme Court declined to pause a contempt order against Apple in its Epic Games antitrust case, forcing the company back to district court over App Store commission rules. Lucky Strike Entertainment was hit with a class action alleging its bowling center acquisitions inflated prices. State attorneys general are increasing antitrust and consumer protection enforcement as the federal government pulls back, per Reuters. In France, prosecutors summoned Elon Musk to face preliminary criminal charges over illegal content on X.

Regulatory and Trade

Export controls and tariff litigation are generating cross-border advisory work.

U.S. authorities suspect advanced Nvidia AI chips were smuggled to Alibaba via a Thai intermediary, raising fresh scrutiny over export controls. A federal trade court ruled Trump lacked authority for the new 10% global tariffs; the White House plans to appeal. Trump set a July 4 deadline for the EU to ratify its trade deal with the U.S. Cloudflare announced plans to cut more than 1,100 employees as it shifts to an AI-first operating model, generating labor and employment advisory needs.

Where the Work Sits

Pharma M&A is generating high-end transactional mandates. The Angelini-Catalyst deal ($4.1B), Roche-PathAI ($1.05B), and CK Hutchison’s ongoing telecom asset reviews all require cross-border deal teams with regulatory overlay. Firms with deep bench in life sciences and telecoms M&A are best positioned.

Private credit stress is generating restructuring and creditor-side matters. The Medallia restructuring involves debt-to-equity conversion, sponsor wipeout, and fresh capital injection—billable for both lender counsel and borrower-side teams. Fund-level gates at Golub Capital and falling software valuations at Hg point to more restructuring and fund advisory work ahead.

White collar and investigations work is set to grow from the insider trading case. Thirty charged, a cooperating witness from Willkie, and years of M&A tips mean firms will see internal investigation mandates and defense work. Export control enforcement—the Nvidia-to-Alibaba smuggling case—adds to the sanctions and trade compliance pipeline.

Antitrust litigation is shifting from federal to state level, creating demand for firms with multi-state AG relationships. The Apple-Epic Games contempt ruling and the Lucky Strike class action add to the docket. Tariff litigation—the court strike-down of Trump’s 10% levy and the pending appeal—creates ongoing international trade advisory demand.

Global Markets

U.S. jobs beat expectations while Hormuz tensions and a tariff court ruling whipsaw risk appetite.

The U.S. added 115K jobs in April, well above the 55K consensus, though down from 185K in March. Unemployment held at 4.3% and wage growth cooled. U.S. public debt has topped 100% of GDP for the first time since the pandemic. The U.S. 30-year yield touched 5%, hovering near a two-decade high. All three major indices slipped from recent highs on U.S.-Iran tensions in the Strait of Hormuz.

Asian governments are intervening in fossil fuel markets to manage supply disruptions. Japan is offering $10B to Asian nations for fuel security. UK retail traffic fell 10.7% in April, the worst in more than five years. Oil market liquidity is drying up as traders sit out war-driven volatility. The stock market rebound has been the most concentrated on record. Hedge funds gained 5% in April, their best month since Covid. Apollo passed $1T in AUM on record inflows and committed to daily pricing across its $830B credit book.

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.