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. Such growth would place it alongside U.S. rivals like Weil Gotshal and Simpson Thacher in the city and mirrors Paul Weiss’s recent rapid London rise. With around 1,750 lawyers across 20 offices globally and $2.8 billion in combined revenue, the firm views London as central to its strategy, with U.K. managing partner Aymen Mahmoud emphasizing quality hires over numbers. The firm will also relocate its London headquarters from Bishopsgate to Mayfair in 2028, aligning with its focus on private capital work, which continues to drive hiring across the market.
MARKET MOVEMENTS
Wilmer has rehired Marik String, who was senior adviser to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and was a Trump-Vance presidential transition team member.
Crowell & Moring hired two attorneys, Rachel Park and Jill Abrams, from HHS in its growing health care team.
Greenberg Traurig hired Stacey Bosshardt as a shareholder in the firm’s environmental practice from Perkins Coie.
Former federal prosecutor, Lindsey Greer Dotson, joins white collar group at O’Melveny in LA.
FIRM SPOTLIGHT - WACHTELL, LIPTON, ROSEN & KATZ
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is a small yet highly profitable New York law firm, known for handling some of the world’s largest and most complex deals, from M&A and antitrust litigation to restructurings and real estate ventures. Founded in 1965 by four NYU Law Review alumni, the firm has stayed rooted in Manhattan while shaping corporate law with innovations like the “poison pill.” Unlike some of its rivals, Wachtell focuses on high stakes matters, often linking fees to deal value, and it has long dominated Vault’s M&A rankings. Its record includes the Getty Oil acquisition, the World Trade Center redevelopment after 9/11, and more recent megadeals like Capital One’s $35.3 billion merger with Discover and OpenAI’s record fundraising. Its litigators are equally formidable, winning precedent-setting cases like Morrison v. National Australia Bank and representing Coinbase against the SEC and Twitter in its battle to enforce Elon Musk’s $44 billion takeover.
INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
Eleven of the global top 15 law firms by head count are based in China, with the largest of those firms, Yingke, at almost 18,000 lawyers.
According to the London Stock Exchange Group’s preliminary numbers, total deal value is up 32.1% year over year, partly because mega deals (those worth over $5 billion) are up by 63.9%.
According to Am Law’s Summer Associates Survey, the following firms were ranked in the top ten: 1) Choate Hall & Stewart 2) Proskauer 3) Arnold & Porter 4) HSF Kramer 5) Kilpatrick 6) Blank Rome 7) Sheppard Mullin 8) Fried, Frank 9) Morgan, Lewis 10) O’Melveny
The top 10 oldest law firms in the world are: 1) Freshfields (founded in 1743) 2) Osborne Clark (1748) 3) DAC Beachcroft (1762) 4) DLA Piper (1764) 5) Pinsent Masons (1769) 6) Addleshaw Goddard (1775) 7) Taylor Wessing (1782) 8) Dentons (1788) 9) Cadwalader (1792) and 10) Norton Rose (1794)
Reed Smith Doubles Down on Atlanta Expansion
Reed Smith is cementing its presence in Atlanta with a 12-year lease for the entire 11th floor of the new Ten Twenty Spring office tower in Midtown, where its 40-lawyer team will move by spring 2026. The Am Law 50 firm, which launched its Atlanta office in January after recruiting nearly 40 attorneys from Morris, Manning & Martin and Greenberg Traurig, has already outgrown its temporary space and plans to surpass 50 lawyers by October—a 35% increase in less than a year. Office managing partner Cindy Davis said the new location’s design will foster collaboration and reflect the energy of the city, while Midtown’s amenities and access to the airport make it ideal for attracting and retaining talent. With $1.5 billion in revenue and more than 1,600 lawyers worldwide, Reed Smith views Atlanta as a thriving business hub central to its long-term growth strategy.
Former SDNY Prosecutor Andrew Rohrbach Joins Jenner & Block
Andrew Rohrbach, a former federal prosecutor who resigned in protest after the Trump administration ordered the shutdown of a bribery probe into New York City Mayor Eric Adams, has joined Jenner & Block as a partner in its white-collar defense and investigations practice. Rohrbach, who spent five years at the Southern District of New York and co-led its general crimes unit, reunites at Jenner with former U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. During his SDNY tenure, he worked on high-profile cases including those involving Sam Bankman-Fried and Ghislaine Maxwell. His move marks his first role in private practice, which he said he chose for Jenner’s commitment to justice and the rule of law.
