Good afternoon,

White & Case is expanding its Tokyo M&A bench with two partners from Freshfields, Willkie picked up a private equity pair from Goodwin on the West Coast, and Cooley added infrastructure partners from Kirkland in New York. Quinn Emanuel is matching Milbank’s new salary scale on its way to a record year and Cadwalader London associates will keep their New York compensation after the tie-up with Hogan Lovells.

On the client side, blockbuster IPOs from SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI are generating millions for BigLaw capital markets practices, while US government officials are in preliminary discussions about the government acquiring stakes in AI companies. On the PE side, funds are sitting on $1.3 trillion in dry powder.

Now, on to what matters for your practice today.

Today’s Talking Points

-White & Case Expands Tokyo M&A / Willkie Adds PE from Goodwin / Cooley Hires Kirkland Duo

-Quinn Emanuel Matches Milbank Salary Hikes / Speaker Johnson’s Chief of Staff Joins K&L Gates

-Clifford Chance Overhauls Partnership for $5M PEP

-Blockbuster IPOs Drawing BigLaw Capital Markets Work / US Officials Eye Stakes in AI Companies

-SCOTUS Upholds SEC Disgorgement and FCC Fining Powers / Amarin Patent Case Resolved

-PE Firms Sit on $1.3T in Dry Powder / Blackstone BCRED Limits Withdrawals

-US Adds 172K Jobs, Dow Hits Record / Fed’s Logan Signals Rates May Need to Rise

Talent Strategy

Latest Moves

-White & Case hired M&A partners Noah Carr and Gordon Palmquist from Freshfields to join its Tokyo office.

-Skadden added Sarah Ridel as partner in its energy and infrastructure projects group in Houston. She most recently worked at Pattern Energy Group.

-Willkie Farr & Gallagher brought on Stephen Lee (Los Angeles) and Brian Raynor (San Francisco) as private equity partners from Goodwin.

-Cooley recruited Kevin Donahue and Jacob Clark from Kirkland & Ellis as partners in its infrastructure, energy, and real estate group in New York.

-K&L Gates added Speaker Mike Johnson’s departing chief of staff Hayden Haynes, who will start mid-month.

What today's moves tell us: Firms are beefing up high-conviction areas across key markets and offerings: Japan M&A, US energy infrastructure, and West Coast private equity, while also securing political access through K Street hires.

Operations and Strategy

Firms are investing in talent incentives and partnership restructuring to push profitability higher.

Clifford Chance is overhauling its partnership structure under managing partner Charles Adams, expanding the use of its local partner tier firmwide as part of a push to clear $5 million PEP. Separately, Cadwalader London associates will keep their higher New York pay rates after the firm's tie-up with Hogan Lovells. Quinn Emanuel is also raising associate salaries to match Milbank’s recently announced pay hikes.

Simmons & Simmons introduced a new bonus recognition scheme tied to meaningful use of generative AI, as part of its push to become a fully AI-enabled law firm.

Practices

Capital Markets and IPOs

BigLaw capital markets practices are seeing the pipeline build up and some firms like Gibson Dunn are starting to hit annual revenue budgets. Firms are reporting client appetite for SEC registrations and IPO reviews, with traction growing across tech, insurance, energy, infrastructure, and healthcare. SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI's IPOs are expected to set off a broader wave of public offerings. Skadden's Ryan Dzierniejko and Latham's Ian Schuman both noted that strong showings from these marquee names will accelerate activity for other issuers.

Selected Press:

-SpaceX barred Hong Kong and China investors from its $75B offering on national security grounds. SpaceX committed $25.5M in legal fees and retained Gibson Dunn as it proceeds with its IPO without a general counsel.

-SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic IPOs Drive Work to Big Law Practices

AI and Technology Regulation

Senior US officials are in preliminary discussions with major AI companies about the federal government acquiring equity stakes. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has discussed the idea with senior Trump administration officials; Anthropic is not involved. The administration has already taken stakes in companies like Intel. Separately, US House lawmakers released a draft bill to regulate AI, and Anthropic is calling for a global slowdown in AI development. For BigLaw, AI governance and equity structuring for government participation create multi-disciplinary advisory work across corporate, regulatory, and government affairs practices.

Selected Press:

-US officials discuss taking equity stakes in major AI companies, with OpenAI's Altman involved in talks.

-US House lawmakers release draft AI regulation bill adding to the growing regulatory framework for frontier models.

Litigation and Regulatory

The Supreme Court gave regulators two significant wins this week. The Court upheld the SEC's authority to recover ill-gotten gains through disgorgement without proving individual investor losses, and separately upheld the FCC's power to fine telecoms for data privacy violations — a decision that hit Verizon and AT&T shares 3–4%. In patent litigation, the Court ruled that Hikma's generic cardiovascular drug did not infringe Amarin's patents, strengthening skinny label protections for generic drugmakers. These decisions are clarifying the enforcement landscape for securities, telecom, and pharma clients and their outside counsel.

Selected Press:

-SCOTUS upholds SEC disgorgement authority to recover illegal profits without proving individual investor losses.

-SCOTUS backs FCC fining power over telecoms, rejecting Verizon's jury trial challenge.

-Hikma wins at SCOTUS in Amarin patent dispute, strengthening skinny label generic drug protections.

Private Equity and Restructuring

Buyout firms are sitting on $1.3 trillion in unspent capital as weak deal volumes trigger showdowns with investors. Blackstone's BCRED fund restricted withdrawals after 10% redemption requests, and DE Shaw extended lockup periods to 3–4 years on two flagship funds. Apollo is handing over control of Reno de Medici to creditors on $700 million in bonds, and Sleep Number is preparing a Chapter 11 filing. For fund formation, restructuring, and credit lawyers, the pressure to deploy or return capital is creating work on both sides — GPs restructuring terms and LPs testing their exit options.

Selected Press:

-PE dry powder hits $1.3T as buyout firms face pressure from investors over paltry deal volumes.

-Blackstone's BCRED restricts withdrawals after 10% redemption requests from investors.

-Sleep Number prepares Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

Where the Work Sits

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The IPO pipeline is the clearest catalyst for BigLaw demand right now. SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI together are pushing capital markets practices back toward full capacity after two years of subdued activity, and a strong showing from these names will pull other issuers into the queue — expanding work across securities, governance, and regulatory.

On the regulatory side, three SCOTUS decisions this week are shaping enforcement risk for clients across sectors. The SEC disgorgement ruling gives the agency broader recovery tools, the FCC fining decision tightens telecom compliance obligations, and the Amarin patent ruling opens room for generic drugmakers. Each creates follow-on advisory and litigation mandates.

Private equity remains a two-speed market. Firms with $1.3 trillion in unspent capital face pressure from investors demanding either deployment or returns, while fund-level liquidity restrictions are generating restructuring and fund formation work. The restructuring pipeline — from Apollo's Reno de Medici to Sleep Number's Chapter 11 — continues to fill.

AI governance and government equity participation represent a newer, cross-cutting demand driver. If the US government moves to acquire stakes in AI companies, it will create work across corporate structuring, regulatory affairs, government contracts, and securities.

Global Markets

The jobs report is the headline: the US economy added 172,000 positions in May, more than double the 80,000 consensus, while unemployment held at 4.3%. Clients are watching whether this strength gives executives confidence to advance shelved deals or whether the Fed's hawkish signals will tighten financing conditions.

Fed Governor Logan said she is increasingly concerned rates may need to rise, adding uncertainty to the rate path. The Dow hit a record while the Nasdaq slipped on a tech rotation — Broadcom dropped 15% on earnings. Executives and board directors are weighing whether the broadening of market gains beyond tech creates a better entry point for strategic activity.

Selected Press:

US adds 172K jobs in May nearly doubling consensus forecasts; unemployment steady at 4.3%.Dow surges 875 points to record close while Nasdaq slips on tech selloff.

Fed's Logan signals rates may need to rise adding to uncertainty around the path for borrowing costs.

Hezbollah rejects US-backed ceasefire as Middle East tensions persist; Asian nations step up FX defense.

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.