Good afternoon,

Milbank raised associate salaries to $455,000, with McDermott matching quickly and more firms expected to follow. Weil Gotshal faces a leadership reset as Ramona Nee prepares to succeed Barry Wolf after years of underperformance against peers. Simpson Thacher locked in 916,000 square feet at 570 Fifth Avenue, one of the largest recent Big Law office commitments in Manhattan.

On the client side, SpaceX set terms for what is likely the largest IPO in history at $75B, Anthropic filed confidentially for its own IPO after leapfrogging OpenAI in revenue, and D&O insurers are tightening coverage for private credit firms as redemption pressure and regulatory scrutiny mount. Brent crude touched $99 after fresh US-Iran clashes hit Kuwait's airport.

Now, on to what matters for your practice today.

Today’s Talking Points

-Milbank Raises Associate Pay to $455K, McDermott Follows / Weil Faces Leadership Reset

-Simpson Thacher Locks In 916K Sq Ft Manhattan Lease / Laterals at Latham, Norton Rose, Proskauer

-SpaceX Prices Record $75B IPO / Anthropic Files Confidentially After Revenue Milestone

-Private Credit D&O Insurers Tighten as Cliffwater, Partners Group Cap Redemptions

-CREATOR Act Targets AI Style Theft / UK Curbs Google AI / Trump Signs AI Order

-Oil Near $99 on US-Iran Clashes / JOLTS Surge to Two-Year High / Fed Hike Talk Builds

Talent Strategy

Latest Moves

-Latham & Watkins hired Walter (Casey) Berger as partner in securities and M&A litigation in Houston.

-Norton Rose Fulbright hired Ginger Faulk as partner in regulation and investigations in Washington DC, and Victoria Morton as partner in securitisation in London.

-Proskauer hired Bryon Mulligan as partner in global finance in Charlotte.

-Haynes Boone hired Alexandra Ueno-Park as partner in tax in London.

What today's moves tell us: Latest lateral hires in securities litigation, regulation, and finance point to firms building capacity for the current enforcement and deal cycle.

Operations and Strategy

The associate pay benchmark alongside firms making long-term bets on real estate, signals market confidence from elite firms as clients reliance on outside counsel is heightened given the current state of market conditions.

Milbank's associate pay reset to $455,000 is expected to trigger a matching wave, continuing a cycle where top-tier compensation is now table stakes for retaining junior talent at elite firmsThe pay cycle is accelerating and firms are making long-term bets on real estate, even as one Big Law leader confronts a difficult turnaround.

Weil Gotshal & Manges is preparing for a leadership transition after a period of underperformance. Revenue grew at half the annualized rate of competitors from 2008 to 2025 per American Lawyer and Citi data, while Davis Polk, Simpson Thacher, and Paul Weiss pulled ahead. Ramona Nee, a Boston-based private equity partner, takes over as executive partner at year-end from Barry Wolf, who has led the firm since 2010. Former partners and recruiters expressed skepticism about a quick rebound.

Simpson Thacher signed for 916,000 square feet at Extell Development's 570 Fifth Avenue, expanding the originally discussed footprint by more than 200,000 square feet. The commitment reflects confidence in headcount growth and client-facing capacity in New York.

Practices

M&A and Capital Markets

Dealmakers are watching a record-setting IPO pipeline and cross-border M&A as signals that capital markets mandates are stacking up. SpaceX's $75B offering, Anthropic's confidential filing, and Quantinuum's $1.5B pricing are creating overlapping securities, governance, and tax work across multiple jurisdictions. Cross-border deals with regulatory complexity, like Kone's $34.2B acquisition of TK Elevator, are generating antitrust advisory work in multiple jurisdictions as buyers build remedies into synergy models from the start.

Selected Press:

-SpaceX prices record $75B IPO at $135/share, targeting a ~$1.75T valuation. Banks accepting 0.75% fees. Could begin trading next week.

-Anthropic files confidentially for IPO after raising funds at ~$965B valuation. Generates 80%+ revenue from business customers and has passed OpenAI in revenue.

-Kone builds antitrust remedies into $34.2B TK Elevator deal as multi-jurisdiction regulatory scrutiny raises execution risk.

-UniCredit secures 34% of Commerzbank through hostile takeover offer for $56B-listed German rival.

-Nippon Paint and Sherwin-Williams abandon $14.5B Akzo Nobel pursuit, leaving the Dutch company to proceed with its planned Axalta merger.

Private Credit and Restructuring

Boards and fund managers are navigating a private credit market where cracks are widening faster than headline performance suggests. D&O insurers are raising premiums and tightening coverage terms for private credit firms, preparing for litigation targeting valuations and disclosure practices. Fund managers are capping withdrawals, and analysts are warning the next phase of stress could be non-linear. For restructuring, fund governance, and insurance coverage practices, the pipeline of mandates is building as investors and regulators increase scrutiny.

Selected Press:

-D&O insurers tighten terms for private credit firms, raising premiums and preparing for litigation over portfolio valuations, especially where funds are exposed to software borrowers and AI-driven obsolescence.

-Cliffwater caps redemptions at 5% on its $31B flagship fund after investors tried to pull ~17% in Q2. Partners Group imposing a 5% limit on its $8.6B Global Value fund.

-Citi analysts warn the private credit market's surface-level calm is 'deceptive' and predict the next wave of stress will be 'accelerated, non-linear.'

-Venezuela retains Hogan Lovells for what is expected to be one of the largest sovereign debt restructurings in decades (~$170B).

Regulatory and IP

A new round of AI-focused legislation, regulation, and enforcement is generating IP, regulatory, and compliance work as governments move to set boundaries on AI's commercial reach. Clients are weighing how the CREATOR Act, UK AI restrictions on Google, and the Trump administration's scaled-back AI order will affect product deployment, licensing, and compliance strategies.

Selected Press:

-CREATOR Act introduced by bipartisan lawmakers, creating a federal right for visual artists to sue when AI tools commercially imitate their style. Includes safe harbors for compliant platforms.

-UK rules Google must let publishers opt out of AI Search features and AI model training under a new ruling.

-Trump signs scaled-back AI executive order creating voluntary pre-release review of frontier models, reduced from 90 to 30 days after industry pushback.

-Trump administration proposes tariffs of 10-12.5% on imports from 60 economies including the EU, China, and India, citing forced-labor concerns. 

Where the Work Sits

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The IPO surge is producing layered capital markets, securities, and governance mandates. SpaceX's record offering alone involves dozens of banks, novel fee structures, and a secondary market for employee shares that creates wealth management and tax advisory work. Anthropic's confidential filing and Quantinuum's pricing add to a pipeline that will keep ECM teams and their counsel busy through the fall.

Private credit stress is creating multi-track advisory work: fund governance reviews as managers cap redemptions, D&O defense as insurers prepare for claims, restructuring mandates as portfolio companies under pressure, and regulatory advisory as the SEC and rating agencies scrutinize the sector. The Hogan Lovells mandate for Venezuela's $170B sovereign restructuring is one of the largest cross-border debt assignments to emerge this year.

AI regulation is generating IP, compliance, and government affairs work across jurisdictions. The CREATOR Act opens a new front in AI liability for tech companies and their counsel, while UK restrictions on Google and the Trump AI order add compliance layers that businesses with global operations will need to navigate.

Global Markets

Clients continue watching two competing forces: record equity valuations driven by AI optimism and worsening energy costs from the Iran conflict. Executives and boards are weighing whether to press forward with strategic activity while markets remain open, or hold back as raising oil prices and a strong labor market read make the Fed's next move harder to predict. Sponsors tracking the IPO pipeline know that the window for pricing large offerings could narrow if energy costs continue eating into consumer purchasing power.

Selected Press:

-Oil touches $99 after renewed US-Iran strikes and Hormuz disruption. Kuwait airport hit by drones.

-US job openings surge to 7.62M in April, highest in nearly two years. Markets pricing no Fed rate cuts in 2026.

-Gold replaces US Treasuries as world's top reserve asset, a shift central banks and sovereign wealth funds are acting on.

-Goldman CEO sees 'more greed than fear' on Wall Street, even as real personal income dropped 0.6% YoY -- a pace rarely seen outside recession.

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.