Law

Dentons Middle East Reappoints Banking Counsel Justine Harding In Muscat

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 30, 2026

Dentons Middle East has brought back banking and finance lawyer Justine Harding as Counsel in its Muscat office, reinforcing the firm’s regional Banking & Finance bench amid rising client demand for financial services expertise.

Latham & Watkins Adds Oil and Gas M&A Partner John Stavinoha In Houston

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 30, 2026

Latham & Watkins has hired John Stavinoha as a partner in its Houston office, adding an experienced oil and gas deal lawyer to the firm’s M&A and Private Equity Practice. The move bolsters Latham’s energy sector capabilities in Texas, with a focus on upstream and midstream transactions.

BCLP Adds Justin Winerman In Chicago

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 30, 2026

International law firm BCLP has hired restructuring partner Justin Winerman in Chicago, adding to its Financial Restructuring & Insolvency Practice as the firm continues to build out bankruptcy and cross-border restructuring capabilities.

White & Case: Marco Buschmann Rejoins As M&A Counsel In Berlin

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 30, 2026

Dr. Marco Buschmann, the former Federal Minister of Justice of Germany, is set to join White & Case as counsel in the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions practice in Berlin, effective February 1, 2026, according to reporting by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (F.A.Z.).

Ropes & Gray Adds Paris Private Funds And Tax Partners Édouard Chapellier And Jonathan Abensour

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 30, 2026

Ropes & Gray said it has strengthened its European private funds and tax platform with the addition of Paris partners Édouard Chapellier and Jonathan Abensour, who joined, along with a team of eight associates.

Baker McKenzie Adds IP Litigator Dean Gerakiteys And Expands Sydney Disputes Team

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 30, 2026

Baker McKenzie has appointed Dean Gerakiteys as a partner in its Intellectual Property practice in Sydney, adding an experienced IP disputes leader and bringing over a small team from Clayton Utz.

Ropes & Gray Adds Fund Finance And Infrastructure Partner Michael P. McGuigan In New York

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 30, 2026

Ropes & Gray has expanded its New York finance bench with the addition of partner Michael P. McGuigan, strengthening the firm’s fund finance and infrastructure development capabilities amid rising client demand in both areas. McGuigan brings more than 20 years of experience advising investment funds and other market participants on a broad range of financing structures.

Norton Rose Fulbright Adds Investment Funds Partner Richard Madris In New York

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 30, 2026

Norton Rose Fulbright has hired Richard Madris as a partner in its funds and asset management group in New York, bolstering the firm’s financial services bench and expanding its investment funds and asset management capabilities across its global platform.

Dentons: Beth Taylor Named As Global Chief Legal Officer

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2026

Dentons has strengthened its Global Leadership Team with the appointment of Beth Taylor as Global Chief Legal Officer and the promotion of Shane Mercer to Global Chief Information Officer. Both executives will join the firm’s Global Management Committee and report to Global CEO Kate Barton.

Checkbox: $23 Million Series A Closed To Build AI Legal Front Door For In-House Legal Teams

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2026

Checkbox has raised a $23 million Series A round to accelerate development of its AI Legal Front Door platform, positioning the product as a single entry point for legal teams to capture, manage, and measure enterprise legal work. The round was led by Touring Capital, with participation from Peak XV (formerly Sequoia Capital India), Conductive Ventures, Tidal Ventures, Five V Capital, and angel investors including Jerry Ting, VP and Head of Agentic AI at Workday and former co founder and CEO of Evisort.

Ropes & Gray: Noah Yavitz Added To Expand Commercial Litigation Practice In NY

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2026

Ropes & Gray announced it has added prominent New York-based litigator Noah Yavitz as a partner in its litigation & enforcement practice, continuing a recent run of lateral growth in the firm’s New York office.

Ropes & Gray Adds Private Equity Partner Paul Dali To Expand European Private Capital Offering

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2026

Ropes & Gray has added private equity lawyer Paul Dali as a partner in London, a move the firm says strengthens its European private capital capabilities and cross-border M&A support for private equity and asset management clients.

Ropes & Gray Adds Antitrust Partner Marta Kelly In New York To Bolster Transactional Practice

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 28, 2026

Ropes & Gray has added antitrust lawyer Marta Kelly as a partner in its New York office, expanding the firm’s transactional antitrust capabilities as clients navigate heightened regulatory scrutiny around dealmaking.

Chamelio: $10 Million Seed Funding Raised To Scale Legal Intelligence Platform For In-House Teams

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 28, 2026

Chamelio, a legal intelligence platform built for in-house legal departments, announced it has raised $10 million in seed funding as it looks to expand product development and accelerate go-to-market efforts. The round was led by Work-Bench and Emerge, with participation from additional investors.

Willkie Adds Private Equity Partner Payom Pirahesh In LA

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 28, 2026

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP has added private equity partner Payom M. Pirahesh to its Los Angeles office, continuing the firm’s push to expand private equity capabilities across its platform.

Dechert Adds More Than 20 Lateral Partners And Names Mike Poulos Vice Chair And Global Head Of Strategy

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 27, 2026

Dechert has brought in a lateral group of more than 20 partners, anchored by a U.S. complex litigation team and an accounting defense practice. The group is led by Mike Poulos, who is joining Dechert as vice chair and global head of strategy after serving as partner in charge of global strategy and a member of the executive committee at his prior firm.

Davis Polk: Tax Partner Brian Grieve Added To New York Tax Practice

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 27, 2026

Davis Polk has hired prominent tax lawyer Brian Grieve as a partner in its Tax practice in New York, strengthening a team that advises asset managers and corporations on complex transactional tax issues.

StrongSuit: Interview With CEO Justin McCallon About The AI-Based Litigation Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 27, 2026

StrongSuit is an AI-powered litigation platform that helps attorneys with case law research, discovery analysis, and drafting motions/briefs (and related legal workflows), while keeping lawyers in control of the final strategic decisions. Pulse 2.0 interviewed StrongSuit CEO Justin McCallon to gain a deeper understanding of the company.

SpotDraft Secures $8 Million From Qualcomm Ventures For On-Device Enterprise Legal AI

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 26, 2026

SpotDraft, an AI-powered contract lifecycle management platform, announced it has raised $8 million from Qualcomm Ventures in a strategic Series B extension, expanding a relationship focused on bringing privacy-first legal AI to Qualcomm-powered devices. The investment follows SpotDraft’s $56 million Series B raise in February 2025 and comes as enterprises look for contract intelligence that can operate securely without sending sensitive documents to external cloud models.

White & Case: Ruta Kalvaitis Skučas Rejoins As Partner In Washington, DC

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 26, 2026

Global law firm White & Case has expanded its Global Project Development and Finance Practice and Global Energy Industry Group with the addition of Ruta Kalvaitis Skučas as a partner in Washington, DC.

Latham: Insurance Transactional And Regulatory Partner Frank Monaco Joins In New York

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 26, 2026

Latham & Watkins announced insurance transactional and regulatory partner Frank Monaco has joined the firm’s New York office as a partner in its Mergers and Acquisitions and Private Equity Practice, adding experience advising insurers and reinsurers on complex deals and regulatory matters.

Harvey Acquires Hexus To Accelerate In House Legal Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 24, 2026

Harvey announced it is bringing Hexus, the Pear VC and Liquid 2-backed AI product demo company founded by Sakshi Pratap, into the Harvey organization as it looks to deepen product capabilities for corporate legal departments. The company described the move as an opportunity to materially accelerate work focused on in-house legal teams, positioning Hexus as a talent and product-oriented addition that can help Harvey move faster as adoption scales.

Norm Law Names Former Sidley Austin Chair Mike Schmidtberger As Chairman

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 24, 2026

Norm Law, an AI native law firm serving global institutional clients, has appointed longtime Sidley Austin leader Mike Schmidtberger as Chairman, Partner, and Head of its Investment Funds and Regulatory practice, a move the firm framed as a marker of how it intends to combine senior legal judgment with an integrated AI platform and engineering-driven workflows.

Antidote: $5 Million Seed Funding Closed To Automate Billing Compliance for Enterprise Law Firms

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 24, 2026

Antidote, a London-based legaltech company, has raised a $5 million Seed round led by Lakestar, with participation from Concept Ventures, The LegalTech Fund (TLTF), and a group of industry angels. The financing brings Antidote’s total capital raised to $7 million, following a $2 million pre-seed in 2025, and will be used to accelerate product development and expand in the U.S.

Willkie Adds Restructuring Partner Jeffrey Michalik In Chicago

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 24, 2026

Willkie Farr & Gallagher has added restructuring partner Jeffrey Michalik to its Chicago office, continuing the firm's recent buildout of its debtor-side bankruptcy and broader restructuring capabilities.

Corrs Adds Indirect Tax Specialist Janet Cho As Sydney Partner

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 24, 2026

Corrs Chambers Westgarth has expanded its tax practice with the appointment of Janet Cho as a partner in Sydney, positioning the hire as another step in building out a deeper bench in indirect tax and transaction structuring.

DLA Piper Adds Adrián Del Paso To Expand Environmental Regulatory Practice In Mexico City

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 24, 2026

DLA Piper announced it has expanded its global Environmental Regulatory practice with the addition of Adrián del Paso as a partner in the firm’s Mexico City office, strengthening the firm’s capabilities across environmental, life sciences, and regulatory matters in Mexico and beyond.

Dentons Rattagan Arocena Promotes Facundo Maciel Bo To Counsel

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 24, 2026

Dentons Rattagan Arocena has promoted Facundo Maciel Bo to Counsel, marking a step up for a lawyer whose work sits at the intersection of public law, regulatory complexity, and competition matters in Argentina’s most closely supervised industries. The promotion follows his arrival at the firm in July 2025, when he joined as a Senior Associate after building more than 15 years of professional experience across private practice and the Argentine Federal Judiciary.

DLA Piper Adds Structured Finance Partner Cary Nadelman In New York

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

DLA Piper has expanded its New York finance bench with the addition of partner Cary Nadelman, strengthening the firm’s Structured Finance subgroup as demand for securitization and CLO execution continues to rise.

Latham & Watkins: Frank Monaco Named As Partner In New York

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

Latham & Watkins has hired Frank Monaco as a partner in its New York office, adding an insurance-focused transactional and regulatory lawyer to the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity Practice. Monaco advises insurers and reinsurers on complex deals and regulatory issues, with a particular emphasis on reinsurance transactions involving the transfer of large blocks of business.