LEGAL LATERAL HIRING, LAW FIRM MERGERS & BIG LAW GROWTH TRENDS 2025
Lateral hiring in the legal industry surged in 2025, rising nearly 9% year-over-year to over 28,000 hires, matching post-pandemic highs, while law firm mergers also jumped 25% to a record 59 deals. Growth was driven largely by Am Law 50 firms, which captured an increasing share of talent, reinforcing a trend of top firms getting bigger. Counsel-level hiring led the increase, boosted in part by an influx of government attorneys, while most lawyers continued to move within their firm tier rather than up or down. At the same time, consolidation accelerated, especially among midsized firms, highlighting growing pressure to scale and compete in an evolving legal market.
MARKET MOVEMENTS
Sidley lures Cravath co-head of VC and growth equity, Scott Bennett
King & Spalding adds Winston & Strawn partners Jeff Cole and Brian Jansen, marking its third team hire from the firm in three months
Latham & Watkins recruits DLA Piper real estate partner, Kaila Sergent, in Los Angeles; focuses on data center transactions
Gibson Dunn adds Weil partner Omar Samji in Houston, focusing on power and renewable energy
FIRM SPOTLIGHT - BERNSTEIN LITOWITZ BERGER & GROSSMANN LLP
Founded in 1983, Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP is a highly selective plaintiffs’ firm that handles complex commercial litigation exclusively on a contingency fee basis, having recovered over $30 billion for clients. Known for securing some of the largest securities recoveries in history, including major settlements against Citigroup, Lehman Brothers, and WorldCom, the firm has built a reputation as a formidable force in securities litigation. Its focused approach allows it to take on fewer, high-impact cases, often representing institutional investors and public pension funds, while driving significant corporate governance reforms. Notable wins include a $1.06 billion settlement with Merck & Co. tied to the Vioxx controversy and a landmark $2.4 billion recovery from Bank of America related to its acquisition of Merrill Lynch.
INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
Simpson, Thacher and Bartlett experienced rapid expansion in 2025, when the firm's revenue spiked 22.5% to $3.55 billion. The firm's average profits per equity partner jumped by 11. 8% to $8.57 million. Total lawyer headcount rose by 18% to 1,761 lawyers.
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe posted an 11.9% annual rise in gross revenue in fiscal year 2025, reaching a new high of roughly $1.8 billion. Net income was up 20.9% year-over-year in 2025 to roughly $569.2 million. The firm’s profits per partner were up 15.5% to about $4.2 million.
Debevoise & Plimpton’s gross revenue rose by 8.8% to $1.77 billion in 2025, with net income up 12.5% to $904.89 million. Their revenue per lawyer rose by 7.3% to $1.87 million and PEP grew by 12.5% to hit the $6 million mark. The firm saw a slight bump in the firm's total lawyer headcount, growing to 944 lawyers.
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson saw 7.2% revenue growth last year to hit $1.22 billion. The firm saw a 3% bump in headcount, growing to 740 lawyers and revenue per lawyer was up 4% to $1.65 million. Average PEP grew by 2.3% to $5.3 million.
M&A Growth Driven by Mega Deals
M&A activity surged in early 2026, driven by fewer but significantly larger deals. Total deal value reached $1.2 trillion across 11,400 transactions, marking a 27% year-over-year increase in value but a 15% drop in volume, the lowest Q1 deal count in over a decade. Megadeals played a major role, with transactions over $10 billion hitting record levels, while sectors like tech, especially AI, led growth. Law firms such as Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Sullivan & Cromwell, and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz topped rankings by deal value, reflecting a shifting but still concentrated competitive landscape. Meanwhile, private equity activity and U.S. dealmaking rebounded strongly, even as smaller transactions and Asia-Pacific activity declined.
Simpson Thacher Expands Sports Practice Amid Talent War
Amid intensifying competition for top sports law talent, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett has strengthened its sports, media, and entertainment practice by hiring Michael Kuh, Eric Geffner, and Matthew Carpenter-Dennis as partners, with Kuh and Geffner serving as co-heads of the sports group. The trio brings experience from firms like Hogan Lovells and Sidley Austin, as well as in-house expertise from the National Basketball Association. Their arrival reflects a broader trend of aggressive lateral hiring across Big Law, driven by growing investment in sports from private equity and asset managers, as firms compete to capitalize on the sector’s expanding role in M&A activity.
