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Vinson & Elkins named Jason Marty (co-founder of AI tools firm Lumio and former COO at Baker McKenzie and BCLP) as its new chief operating officer. Across the market, a mutiple lateral moves landed in a single cycle: Ropes & Gray hired Paul Weiss's financial services chair, Freshfields pulled a dealmaker from Hengeler Mueller in Munich, and Weil added a finance partner in London from Sidley. Ashurst posted 11% revenue growth to £1.152 billion heading into its Perkins Coie merger.

On the client side, Apollo's flagship private credit fund capped withdrawals at 5% after investors sought 17% redemptions. Chevron and Microsoft struck a 2-gigawatt data center power deal in Texas. China placed 10 US firms on its export control list and barred 46 from procurement, effective June 30. Across the pond, UK PM Keir Starmer resigned.

Now, on to what matters for your practice today.

Today’s Talking Points

·-V&E names AI-focused COO / Ashurst posts 11% revenue jump ahead of Perkins Coie merger
-Laterals sweep across M&A, finance, arbitration, and regulatory in DC, London, Munich, and Houston
-Apollo caps redemptions at 5% as $15B in private credit withdrawals pile up across the sector
-Chevron-Microsoft 2GW data center power deal / China rare earth export controls hit US firms
-Polymarket fake-bet scheme draws FTC and CFTC enforcement risk
-North Carolina becomes first state to ban third-party litigation funding
-UK PM Starmer resigns / UK PMI hits 14-month low / Global tech selloff deepens

Talent Strategy

Latest Moves

What today's moves tell us: Firms are building out in cities and practices where client demand is strongest such as leveraged finance in London, energy M&A in Houston, PE in Munich, and regulatory in Washington.

Operations and Strategy

Firm strategy is shifting at the top with V&E's COO hire signaling a deeper bet on AI-driven operations, while Ashurst's pre-merger numbers show the payoff of sustained revenue growth.

Vinson & Elkins appointed Jason Marty as its new COO. Marty co-founded Lumio, an AI tools company for law firm business development, and previously served as COO at both Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner and Baker McKenzie. He replaces longtime COO Adam Kassof and plans to focus on AI strategy and building on V&E's strengths in power, energy, and digital infrastructure.

Ashurst reported 11% revenue growth to £1.152 billion and PEP clearing £1.5 million in its final full financial year before completing its merger with Perkins Coie. The combined firm will rank among the largest global practices by headcount.

Practices

Private Credit and Restructuring

Fund managers and restructuring advisors are watching liquidity pressure build across the private credit sector. Nine major funds overseeing about $200 billion have faced nearly $15 billion in redemption requests while meeting under 40% of them, a gap that creates advisory work around gating mechanisms, investor communications, secondary sales, and potential restructurings for funds that cannot meet outflows.

Selected Press:

Energy and Infrastructure

Dealmakers in energy and infrastructure are positioning around the convergence of AI-driven data center demand and traditional power generation. Structured power contracts at this scale require project finance, environmental permitting, and joint venture work matters that span Houston, New York, and Dallas practices.

Selected Press:

International Trade, Regulatory, and Litigation

Corporate clients and their advisors are bracing for another round of US-China trade restrictions. China’s latest export controls (effective June 30) hit rare earth miners and defense contractors, creating immediate compliance and supply chain advisory mandates. Separately, the WSJ’s Polymarket investigation raises enforcement risk from both the FTC and CFTC, while employment discrimination litigation is testing AI-based hiring tools.

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Where the Work Sits

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Private credit is the clearest near-term generator of high-end restructuring and fund advisory work. When funds meet less than 40% of redemption requests, the downstream effects including investor disputes, regulatory scrutiny, secondary sales, and potential restructurings, create mandates across restructuring, fund formation, and litigation practices.

The energy and infrastructure pipeline is producing structured project finance, joint venture, and environmental permitting work at scale. Co-located data center power deals bring together energy, tech, and real estate practices in mandates with 20-year contract horizons. Cross-border M&A in building materials adds regulatory work for teams in New York and Dublin.

Trade and sanctions compliance work is expanding again. China's latest export controls create immediate mandates for export compliance reviews, supply chain restructuring, and CFIUS-related advisory across Washington and New York. The Polymarket investigation adds a layer of enforcement work across FTC, CFTC, and securities practices, while AI-based employment discrimination claims are opening a new front in labor and employment litigation.

Global Markets

Clients and law firms alike are now also watching political instability in the UK and tightening US-Iran dynamics as near-term signals for deal timing and risk pricing. UK PM Starmer's resignation adds uncertainty for London-based deal flow at a time when UK PMI has hit a 14-month low. The US decision to ease Iran sanctions via a 60-day oil waiver plus $12 billion in frozen funds could shift energy pricing models for clients weighing cross-border transactions. A global tech selloff, led by a 10% drop in the South Korea market, is compressing valuations in ways that may accelerate opportunistic M&A for sponsors with dry powder.

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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.