Big Law firms saw strong growth in 2025 not just from rising demand, but increasingly from alternative and contingency fee arrangements, where firms “bet on themselves” and share in successful outcomes.

Reed Smith is continuing its rapid expansion with the launch of a new Boston office—its fourth in just over a year—built by recruiting a targeted group of partners and associates from top competing firms.

Big Law is entering a period of significant consolidation, with numerous Am Law 200 firm leaders openly expressing willingness to explore mergers in 2026

Artificial intelligence is no longer a buzzword in lateral hiring – it’s becoming infrastructure. Leading law firms and search firms are deploying predictive analytics, candidate scoring models, LPQ automation, and digital footprint analysis to surface high-probability partner targets faster and with greater precision. Rather than relying solely on anecdote and instinct, firms are increasingly interrogating historical performance data, client portability patterns, and revenue trajectories to inform early-stage decisions.

The revenue gap between the world’s largest law firms and the rest of the market is widening in 2026, and it’s playing out in aggressive lateral hiring. Latham & Watkins has announced at least 18 lateral partner hires in the first seven weeks of the year—up sharply from five during the same period in 2025—adding talent across capital markets, M&A, private equity, structured finance, litigation, privacy, and communications, including former FCC commissioner Geoffrey Starks.

The U.S. legal sector is off to a strong start in 2026, with January employment rising to 1,236,600—up 5,500 from December and 26,800 from a year ago—according to seasonally adjusted Bureau of Labor Statistics data, which shows robust demand for attorneys across the U.S. and internationally, spanning partners, associates, in-house counsel, and interim lawyers, driven by business complexity and steady economic growth.

Norton Rose Fulbright has strengthened its Midwest transactional capabilities by adding a five-partner team from Polsinelli, including Andrew Smolik and Michael Flood in St. Louis and Seth Aigner, Virginia Duong, and Gordon Klein in Chicago, as part of its continued expansion and push to meet rising demand for M&A and private equity work.

A federal judge in Pennsylvania sanctioned two attorneys after identifying multiple AI-generated “hallucinations” in a court filing, concluding they violated Rule 11 by submitting false citations without proper verification.

Am Law 200 firms are continuing to expand their New York office footprints heading into 2026, reflecting sustained headcount growth and renewed investment in physical workspaces.

Washington, D.C., is already seeing a surge in lateral law firm hiring as 2026 begins, fueled by a combination of firm mergers, the one-year mark of the Trump administration, and upcoming midterm elections.

In 2026, corporate legal departments face a complex landscape shaped by AI litigation, regulatory shifts, and major antitrust battles.

Sullivan & Cromwell LLP has launched a digital infrastructure practice group to advise on large, complex transactions in the rapidly growing sector, leveraging its multidisciplinary expertise across technology, energy, real estate, finance and corporate law.

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…

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.