THE CHEETAH BRIEF
THE CHEETAH BRIEF – 42nd EDITION
Pryor Cashman LLP has added Jason E. Sloan, a former assistant general counsel at the U.S. Copyright Office, as a partner in its litigation and music, IP, and media and entertainment practices…
THE CHEETAH BRIEF – 41st EDITION
Crowell & Moring is bucking the Big Law trend of expanding office space by downsizing its Chicago footprint and adopting a modern, collaborative design. The firm moved from 78,000 to 50,000 square feet at 300 N. LaSalle, emphasizing natural light, shared spaces and updated tech.
THE CHEETAH BRIEF – 40th EDITION
Milbank will match the latest top-tier Big Law year-end and special bonus scales, reaffirming payouts ranging from $15,000 to $115,000 for associates and $6,000 to $25,000 special bonuses.
THE CHEETAH BRIEF – 39th EDITION
Davis Polk & Wardwell announced a new program offering 1L students a $25,000 stipend for completing qualified pro bono or community-focused internships in summer 2026, with the payout delivered if they join the firm as 2L summer associates in 2027.
THE CHEETAH BRIEF – 38th EDITION
Davis Polk & Wardwell announced a new program offering 1L students a $25,000 stipend for completing qualified pro bono or community-focused internships in summer 2026, with the payout delivered if they join the firm as 2L summer associates in 2027.
THE CHEETAH BRIEF – 37th EDITION
Bloomberg Law data shows that top firms like Kirkland & Ellis, Paul Weiss, Davis Polk, and Paul Hastings are rapidly expanding their litigation teams—each growing headcount by at least 22% since early last year—as demand for high-stakes disputes continues to rise.
THE CHEETAH BRIEF – 36th EDITION
Latham & Watkins is capitalizing on Germany’s post-austerity infrastructure boom, seeing a sharp rise in high-value mandates as the country injects €1 trillion into infrastructure and defense under Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
THE CHEETAH BRIEF – 35th EDITION
Latham & Watkins is capitalizing on Germany’s post-austerity infrastructure boom, seeing a sharp rise in high-value mandates as the country injects €1 trillion into infrastructure and defense under Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
THE CHEETAH BRIEF – 34th EDITION
A&O Shearman and Freshfields are advising on Dubizzle’s upcoming IPO on the Dubai Financial Market, which includes both primary and secondary share sales and could value the company at around $2 billion.
THE CHEETAH BRIEF – 33rd EDITION
Kirkland & Ellis has quietly changed its partner promotion strategy, opting not to issue a public announcement for its 2025 class—a notable departure from its long-standing tradition of publicizing hundreds of promotions each October.
THE CHEETAH BRIEF – 32nd EDITION
McDermott Will & Schulte, formed by the merger of McDermott Will & Emery and Schulte Roth & Zabel in August, is planning a major London expansion that could more than double its current U.K. headcount of just over 100 lawyers to between 250 and 400.
THE CHEETAH BRIEF – 31st EDITION
Sixteen months after Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling finalized their landmark merger, A&O Shearman has made progress toward its vision of combining top-tier work, global reach, and dual U.S./U.K. capabilities, reporting $3.7 billion in revenue and a $2.7 million PEP in fiscal year 2025.
THE CHEETAH BRIEF – 30th EDITION
As 2025 nears its end, law firm leaders across the Am Law 200 are cautiously optimistic — and many confident — that the year will be a financial success despite political and economic turbulence. Firms have leaned on billing rate hikes, litigation growth, and quick pivots to offset soft demand and sluggish mid-market deals, with many on pace to beat 2024’s strong results.
THE CHEETAH BRIEF – 29th Edition
Mega M&A deals are making a comeback, with Anglo American’s proposed $53 billion merger with Teck and Union Pacific’s $85 billion bid for Norfolk Southern signaling renewed appetite for large-scale transactions.
THE CHEETAH BRIEF – 28th Edition
Legal AI company Harvey has launched a law school alliance program to integrate its generative AI technology into classrooms at participating schools, including Stanford, NYU, Michigan, UCLA, the University of Texas, and Notre Dame, with more schools invited to join. Read more on our blog.
THE CHEETAH BRIEF – 27th Edition
King & Spalding, founded in 1885 in Atlanta, has grown from its Southern roots into a global powerhouse with 24 offices across 10 countries. The firm built its reputation early through work with the railroad industry and long-standing relationships with clients like Coca-Cola, later expanding into New York, Washington, D.C., and Houston before continuing worldwide.
THE CHEETAH BRIEF – 26th Edition
Kirkland & Ellis, the world’s highest-grossing law firm, recently appointed its first-ever chief operating officer, Gary Levin, marking a significant shift toward the broader Big Law trend of hiring business executives to manage firm operations.
THE CHEETAH BRIEF – 21st Edition
Kirkland & Ellis, the world’s highest-grossing law firm, recently appointed its first-ever chief operating officer, Gary Levin, marking a significant shift toward the broader Big Law trend of hiring business executives to manage firm operations.
THE CHEETAH BRIEF – 25th Edition
In the past week, deal activity remained dominated by large-scale transactions despite an overall slowdown in volume, with 13 deals exceeding $1 billion—including the $10.5 billion acquisition of CommScope’s connectivity and cable solutions business by Amphenol, advised by Latham, Wachtell, and Simpson Thacher.
THE CHEETAH BRIEF – 24th Edition
McDermott Will & Schulte, the newly formed Am Law 50 firm resulting from the merger of McDermott Will & Emery and Schulte Roth & Zabel, has begun integrating leadership across key committees, with former Schulte leaders taking on major roles.