A newsletter by Reuters and Westlaw |
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Large and midsized U.S. law firms closed 2025 on a high note, with profits surging. But cooling demand for M&A work hints that 2026 could be a different story.
Even with a blockbuster Q4, slowing deal activity in transactional practices is raising red flags, hinting at a potential slowdown in the U.S. economy — and historically, lower profits for law firms. “Traditionally, law firms have had trouble with sustained high-tempo growth,” said Bryce Engelland, a senior industry data analyst with the Thomson Reuters Institute.
Karen Sloan breaks down what 2026 could hold for the nation’s law firms. |
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Education: The Wyoming Supreme Court will consider whether the state’s school choice program is constitutional. The program provides savings accounts of up to $7,000 per student not enrolled in public school to use for tuition at private schools and other expenses.
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Litigation: Magistrate Judge Judith G. Dein in Boston will consider whether to order prosecutors to provide additional discovery materials to a Russian-born scientist at Harvard University accused of smuggling frog embryos into the U.S.
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Congressional: The House Committee on Homeland Security will hold a hearing on “Oversight of the Department of Homeland Security: ICE, CBP, and USCIS."
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Court calendars are subject to last-minute docket changes. |
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- The leaders of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft’s global litigation group have departed the law firm for rival Mintz, Levin ahead of Cadwalader’s planned merger with Hogan Lovells, citing client conflicts. Know more here.
- Attorney outsourcing company Axiom Global closed its affiliated Arizona-based law firm, three years after it became one of the largest companies to take advantage of relaxed law firm ownership rules in the U.S. state. Read more.
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Three law students said they would withdraw their lawsuit over the EEOC's probe of diversity policies at large law firms, after agency officials said firms had not disclosed any personal information about employees and job applicants. More on this here.
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"We live in an era of science and technology, with legal controversies reflecting that fact."
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—Liberal U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, writing in a foreword to The Federal Judicial Center's reference manual on scientific evidence. The latest edition excluded a chapter on climate change following objections from Republican state attorneys general, who argued it was biased against fossil fuel companies. Kagan's foreword appears to still nod to the now-excised section. Read more here.
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U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas in New York temporarily put on hold her earlier ruling that the Trump administration lift a four-month-old freeze on federal funding for the $16 billion Hudson Tunnel Project connecting New York City and New Jersey. Read more here.
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Novo Nordisk sued U.S. telehealth company Hims & Hers for infringing on the Danish group's patents. Read the complaint.
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Chinese automaker BYD filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government challenging President Trump's bid to use sweeping authority to impose tariffs, and requesting a refund for all levies it paid since last April, court documents show.
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Attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler examine New York's new legislation that requires disclosure of the use of AI-generated synthetic performers in publications and advertising materials and another that expands post-mortem rights of publicity. Read today's Attorney Analysis. |
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