#biglaw

#biglaw

Law firms took nearly 800,000 square feet of New York City office space in Q4 2025, according to data provided to Law.com, with firms including Kirkland & Ellis, Goodwin Procter, and McGuireWoods expanding their Manhattan footprints. Gibson Dunn and Baker Hostetler renewed in place, underscoring that firms are holding onto - and adding to - their office space, not shedding it.

Cravath was one of the first longtime holdouts to cut bait and create a "salaried partner tier" (i.e., nonequity partners) back in November 2023. That move gave other highly ranked firms permission to tread the same path, including Paul Weiss, which announced its new two-tier partnership plan in March 2024; WilmerHale, which added a nonequity partnership tier in August 2024; Cleary, which announced its own new partnership platform in October 2024;

We begin the year by peering into our crystal balls and issuing some predictions for 2026. Who will be fired? What's going to happen with law schools? Is a big change on the horizon for Biglaw? Our predictions will inevitably be wrong, but we'll offer them with a lot of confidence - just like AI would. Also a whole lot of sports talk for a law podcast.

Many readers of Above the Law eagerly await news about annual bonuses around the end of the year. Most Biglaw law firms award those bonuses based on seniority and perhaps other performance-based metrics. Some smaller law firms also have institutionalized year-end bonus initiatives through which attorneys may receive a bonus equal to one or two months of salary. However, most attorneys work at small law firms and are much less likely to receive an annual bonus at such firms.

You'll recall, early in his second term, Trump launched a war on Biglaw through unconstitutional Executive Orders designed to break major law firms unless they bent the knee. In the face of financial harm, nine major firms (Paul Weiss, Skadden, Kirkland, Latham, Cadwalader, Willkie Farr, Simpson Thacher, Milbank, and A&O Shearman) sought Trump's seal of approval, providing millions in pro bono payola, that is, free legal services on behalf of conservative clients or approved causes in order to avoid Trumpian retribution.

Biglaw recruiting director out after racist rant goes public.

BigLaw firms are moving further to the left, according to an analysis of campaign contributions by lawyers and staff members in BigLaw and larger plaintiffs-side law firms. The findings: 92.45% of campaign contributions by that group went to Democrats in 2023 and 2024, according to a Bloomberg Law column and a slightly different version of the story published by Original Jurisdiction.

If the [Biglaw] firms had just stuck together no one would be in this tough place of having to capitulate or suffer consequences. Super disappointed in Paul Weiss, Latham, Kirkland, etc. and they were all immediately taken off my list of places to work. - A summer associate from Fish & Richardson, in response to a question posed in the American Lawyer's annual Summer Associate Satisfaction Survey.

Cooley Law Has Real Trouble Getting Its Graduates To Pass The Bar Exam: And the ABA has a real issue with that. Everyone Knows Biglaw Associates Work A Lot Of Hours: But where do the work the *most*? Biglaw Firm Files Lawsuit Against A Former Associate: After they say she made false allegations of sexual assault against a partner. Paul Weiss And Kirkland Got Some 'Splainin To Do (Again): Because how they're paying off their pro bono payola sure seems like it violates the law.

Since the start of the Trump II reign, and the attack on the rule of law that coincided with that, it's been clear that Biglaw wasn't going to be our savior. When d irectly confronted with unconstitutional Executive Orders targeting firms on Trump's list for retribution, more than twice as many major law firm were willing to promise the president nearly a billion dollars in pro bono payola for conservative causes or clients as were willing to fight the EOs in court.

Biglaw in particular runs on insecurity. Not only do lawyers work insane hours, they're expected to perform with absolute precision. From day one, the message is clear: Miss a deadline (even if arbitrary) or make an error (however inconsequential), and your career is toast. The culture of extreme perfectionism breeds fear and anxiety, yet it remains the industry standard. The question is what this is doing to lawyers' mental state.

Armed with data from SurePoint Legal Insights about changes in headcount over the last six months, Lat concludes that "the Trump deals might be affecting, but not fundamentally altering, law firms' overall trajectories." Whether coincidence or cause and effect, or some combination thereof, a few stats are worth highlighting: On average, Am Law 100 firms saw attrition of -1.7% The five firms subjected to executive orders that did not capitulate averaged a 2.8% decline in headcount The nine firms that made deals with Trump averaged a 4.9% drop

Associates crave training and mentorship opportunities, but not every Biglaw firm has been able to fulfill their end of the bargain. The American Lawyer just released its midlevel associates survey, and as noted by Dan Roe, "the sheer existence of a mentorship program or formal training doesn't guarantee that midlevel associates are being adequately mentored." He goes on to explain that today's midlevels are seeking out guidance, but that some programs are missing the mark:

shadow docket.

* Google avoids having to spin off Chrome. [Law360] * Lawyers using time saved by AI for more work. [Legal Cheek] * Charging documents for former Biglaw associate arrested in D.C. say someone said hostile things to National Guard troops and a day later they decided it was him. We might have another no bill on our hands. [National Law Journal]

Assuming 52 weeks a year, working 2400 hours means working over 46 hours a week, week in and week out. That's a little over 9 hours a day assuming a five-day week. I know, what big law associate works 5 days a week? At 6 days a week, your daily grind is manageable 7.6 hours a day. Of course, that means working what most people would consider a full day every single Saturday.

Some of the attorneys are resurfacing months later in jobs outside of Big Law, from running for Congress to working at a small firm taking on the Trump administration.

The 6th Circuit cited the U.S. Supreme Court's 1981 decision in Upjohn Co. v. United States, which held that attorney-client privilege applies when companies seek legal advice through internal investigations.

Milbank has taken a lead on attorney compensation for a while now, causing ripples in the old guard "wait and see" approach in Biglaw by issuing earlier bonuses and even cost of living adjustments to keep its team properly valued.

Neal Katyal, a partner at Milbank, typically charges $3,250 per hour, but will charge $300 per hour to defend Newark and Hoboken in immigration policy lawsuits.

Don't bite anyone at work ever again! It's a form of assault, and the fact that she thought it was OK says she probably needs some serious remedial education in how to relate to people at work.

Kirkland's management is seeking feedback from associates regarding adherence to office policies, indicating a desire for improved compliance and engagement within the firm.

A legal secretary at the Big Law firm I worked at knew she was going to be fired, so the day before, she went into a bunch of partners' emails and sent their wives evidence of infidelity, printed out confidential employee evaluations and communications about bonuses/pay and left them in everyone's desk, and then cleaned out the swag closet and dropped several thousand dollars' worth of merchandise with the law firm's name and logo off at a homeless encampment.

"This is often a stressful time for families with autism or sensory issues. So I like to have this event to really bring the families together to experience and hopefully have a core memory around Red, White and BOOM!"

Morris, Manning & Martin is poised for highly strategic and transformational options for growth," Malko said. "We are in advanced discussions with a national Am Law 100 firm...