Good morning,

Sidley Austin dominated the lateral market this week with seven partner hires, headlined by a five-partner lift from Clifford Chance's finance and tax practices across New York and Washington. Winston Taylor added three IP litigation partners from DLA Piper across Washington and Silicon Valley, while Sheppard picked up three partners in transactional and governmental practice from Baker McKenzie, Winston Taylor, and Crowell & Moring. Simpson Thacher bolstered its bench with a tax partner from Weil and a trial partner from Cravath. Across the board, Kirkland & Ellis and Clifford Chance bore the heaviest talent losses, shedding five partners each.

On the corporate side, a wave of CFO transitions continued reshuffling the Fortune 500. Dave Denton will leave Pfizer for the CFO seat at Nike, Best Buy's Matt Bilunas is stepping down after seven years, and Reinsurance Group of America named Laura Cockrill as its new CFO while predecessor Axel André heads to TPG. Meanwhile, Coinbase CLO Paul Grewal is exiting after steering the crypto exchange through its SEC showdown, and Apollo hired Jason Genrich from Elliott Management to run its software investment vertical.

Now, on to what matters for your practice today.

BigLaw Moves Sentiment

Finance and capital markets continue to drive the most aggressive hiring, with Sidley's five-partner Clifford Chance lift signaling strong demand for leveraged finance, fund formation, and cross-border lending capabilities.

The concentration of IP litigation hires at Winston Taylor and cybersecurity additions at A&O Shearman reflect growing client spend on tech disputes and data-related regulatory matters.

International trade hires from government service at Akin and Foley Hoag point to sustained demand for sanctions, CFIUS, and export controls work.

These patterns suggest law firm leaders see near-term revenue growth in private credit, technology disputes, and regulatory compliance advisory.

BigLaw Moves

A few quick patterns worth noting: This week saw 34 firms welcoming 53 new partners. Sidley Austin welcomed the most partners this week (7), while Clifford Chance saw the most net departures (5), all to Sidley's finance and tax practices. Kirkland & Ellis also lost five partners to rival firms while adding one. DLA Piper lost four partners but offset losses with two incoming hires.

Firms Welcoming Multiple Joiners

-Sidley Austin (7) — Andrew Baker joined as a capital markets partner in New York from Latham & Watkins, where he led financings including Yum! Brands' $2.7 billion Pizza Hut sale and Mastercard's $5 billion notes offering. Mayan Katz joined in emerging companies, venture capital and life sciences from Goodwin Procter. In a team lift from Clifford Chance, Sidley added finance partners Lee Askenazi and Alistair Dunlop in New York, Robert Hagan and Rebecca O'Brien in Washington, and tax partner James Gouwar in New York.

-Winston Taylor (3) — The firm formerly known as Winston & Strawn added three IP litigation partners from DLA Piper: Clayton Thompson in Washington, D.C., and Carrie Williamson and Jake Zolotorev in Silicon Valley.

-Sheppard (3) — Paul Freeman joined the governmental practice in New York from Crowell & Moring. Transactional partners Kathryn Strong (from Baker McKenzie) and Sean Hilson (from Winston Taylor) joined in Chicago.

-Akin (2) — International trade partner Dallas Woodrum returned to the firm in Washington from the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. Megan Spelman joined as a corporate partner in New York from Paul Weiss.

-DLA Piper (2) — André Teixeira joined as a project finance partner in Washington from Kirkland & Ellis. James Gavin joined as a finance partner in San Juan, Puerto Rico from Pietrantoni Mendez & Alvarez.

-Foley & Lardner (2) — Tax partner John Stern joined in Boston from Goodwin Procter. Finance partner James Bedotto joined in Dallas from Kirkland & Ellis.

-K&L Gates (2) — Tamika Bent joined as an asset management and investment funds partner in New York from Willkie. Gavin Wait joined as a real estate finance partner in Charleston from Polsinelli.

-King & Spalding (2) — Complex commercial litigation partner Meredith Pohl joined in Washington from Kirkland & Ellis. Sports and project development partner Eric Andalman joined in Denver from Hogan Lovells.

-Norton Rose Fulbright (2) — M&A partners Nate Hurlbut and John Zarbock joined in Salt Lake City from Greenberg Traurig.

-Paul Hastings (2) — Private credit partner Peter Williams joined in New York from Cahill Gordon & Reindel. Investment funds partner Chidi Oteh joined in Boston from Ropes & Gray.

-Simpson Thacher (2) — Tax partner Steven Lorch joined in New York from Weil, Gotshal & Manges. Trial partner Timothy Cameron joined from Cravath, Swaine & Moore.

-Sullivan & Cromwell (2) — Philipp Hanfland and Maximilian Bülau joined in Frankfurt from Hengeler to launch a German litigation practice.

Firms Adding Single Joiners

-A&O Shearman added digital, data, IP and technology partner Matthew Karlyn in Boston from Morrison Foerster.

-Akerman added transactional risk partner Evan Friedland in Miami from Holland & Knight.

-Arnold & Porter added complex litigation partner Sunita Bali in San Francisco from Perkins Coie.

-BakerHostetler added securities litigation partner Sean Knowles in Seattle from Ashurst.

-Bradley added bankruptcy partner Sean Kulka in Atlanta from Arnall Golden Gregory.

-Clark Hill added labor and employment partner Asra Hashmi in Pittsburgh from Ogletree Deakins.

-Dechert added corporate and securities partner Leahana Grimley in San Francisco from Kirkland & Ellis, focused on PE transactions and M&A.

-Foley Hoag added international trade and national security partner Sarah Oliai in Washington from Cooley.

-Hausfeld welcomed back antitrust trial partner Bonny Sweeney in San Francisco, returning from a role as senior litigation counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice.

-Jackson Lewis added employment partner Rachel Salvin in Los Angeles from Gordon Rees.

-Katten launched its Miami office with capital markets partner Josh Kaufman from DLA Piper, who will lead the firm's public company advisory practice.

-Kirkland & Ellis added real estate partner Anthony Mongone in New York from Ropes & Gray.

-Lowenstein Sandler added environmental litigation partner Thomas Pearce in New York from Latham & Watkins.

-Nixon Peabody added securities and capital markets partner Stephen Fox in Long Island from Ruskin Moscou Faltischek.

-O'Melveny added securities litigation partner Todd Beaton in New York from McGuireWoods.

-Ogletree Deakins welcomed back employment litigator Carolyn Enciso Sieve as a shareholder in Orange County.

-Pillsbury added IP tech litigation partner Calvin Wingfield in Washington from Goodwin Procter. The firm also hired Oz Benamram as its first Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer.

-Pryor Cashman added litigation partner David Elbaum in New York from Simpson Thacher.

-Seyfarth Shaw added corporate partner Kristin Rice-Gonzalez in Chicago from Mayer Brown.

-White & Case added restructuring partner Tarun Warriar in Hong Kong from Akin Gump.

-Willkie Farr & Gallagher added private funds partner Erica Temel in New York from Kirkland & Ellis.

-Womble Bond Dickinson added corporate and securities partner Katherine Smith in Houston from Vinson & Elkins.

Corporate Moves Sentiment

The concentration of CFO departures across Pfizer, Best Buy, and Reinsurance Group of America reflects a broader wave of finance leadership turnover in the Fortune 500 that is creating demand for interim and succession advisory work.

Apollo's hiring of an Elliott partner to lead software investments signals growing PE appetite for technology buyouts signals continued confidence that generates significant M&A, fund formation, and financing legal work.

The cluster of CTO appointments across Lyft, GIX, Dave, and O9 Solutions points to a technology leadership refresh that is likely to accelerate enterprise software procurement and licensing engagements.

Corporate Moves

Investment Banking

-Lazard appointed former Goldman Sachs partner Kathy Elsesser to its board of directors, succeeding retiring board member Andrew Alper.

-Wells Fargo hired Tom Nicholls from PJT Partners as head of sports investment banking.

Asset Managers

-Apollo hired Jason Genrich as a partner and head of software from Elliott Management, where he was involved in investments in Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Crown Castle.

-Blue Owl named senior managing director Chris Eby to the newly created role of Chief Strategy Officer.

-Silver Point Capital hired Michael Cote from Goldman Sachs as a Managing Director in its Direct Lending team.

-Charlesbank Capital Partners promoted five managing directors: Catherine Farrow, Jesse Ge, Michael McGuire, Jared Pomerance, and William Reilly. Qatalyst Partners hired Preeti Raghupathi from Wells Fargo to focus on semiconductor deals.

Corporates

-Anthropic named former Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke to its Long-Term Benefit Trust.

-Best Buy CFO Matt Bilunas will step down effective July 31 after seven years. CEO Corie Barry, who is leaving the CEO role on October 31 and previously served as CFO, will provide financial guidance during the search for successors.

-Coinbase CLO Paul Grewal will step down as of July 31 and transition to an advisory role. The former federal judge helped steer the crypto exchange through its public listing and regulatory showdown with the SEC. Molly Abraham, VP of Legal, will be promoted to General Counsel and Secretary.

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

-Kyndryl, the IBM spinoff, appointed Andrew Bonzani as its new legal chief, succeeding Edward Sebold who departed in February. Bonzani previously served as legal chief at Interpublic Group. Separately, Illumina brought on Julie Coletti as a senior legal and business leader with deep life sciences experience.

-Nike will install Dave Denton as CFO, poaching him from Pfizer where he currently serves as CFO. Denton, who previously held the CFO role at Lowe's and CVS Health, succeeds Matthew Friend, who has been with Nike for 17 years. Cecile Guegan, Pfizer's SVP of Finance, will serve as interim CFO while the company searches for a permanent successor.

-Reinsurance Group of America appointed Laura Cockrill as CFO, effective immediately. She succeeds Axel André, who will leave the company on July 17 to become Partner and CFO at TPG.

Heard on the Street

The American Lawyer reported this week that Kirkland & Ellis, Sidley Austin, Simpson Thacher, Akin, Paul Hastings, and other top firms are aggressively poaching partners from rivals in New York, describing the current lateral market as increasingly competitive as firms race to lock in talent ahead of an expected pickup in deal activity.

BCG Attorney Search’s 2026 Legal Talent Movement Report projected partner laterals will remain at elevated levels of 2,800 to 3,100 moves this year, with hiring concentrated in AI and technology, data privacy, private credit, healthcare, and infrastructure practices.

Fortune reported that a wave of CFO retirements is reshaping the Fortune 500, noting that 60 percent of outgoing CFOs retired or moved to board roles in Q1 2026, up from 56 percent a year earlier and well above the seven-year first-quarter average of 39 percent. Experts estimate the peak CFO departure window will arrive between 2029 and 2034, with only 16 percent of sitting CFOs saying their organization has a proactive succession plan.

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.