One of the largest law firm mergers in history officially went live this summer, as Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader, Wickersham and Taft completed their combination to form Hogan Lovells Cadwalader, a new BigLaw heavyweight with combined revenues exceeding $3.6 billion and more than 3,000 lawyers across the globe.
News of the potential deal first broke late in 2025, and partners at both firms voted overwhelmingly to approve the tie up in April 2026, with more than 95 percent supporting the combination. The merged firm now ranks as the fifth largest legal player in the world by revenue.
Miguel Zaldivar, CEO of Hogan Lovells, said the firm was creating something unlike anything else in the market, with the expertise to advise clients on their most complex work across the G20. He pointed to months of conversations with clients, partners, associates, and business teams that he said emphatically affirmed the strategic thinking behind the combination.
Cadwalader co managing partner Patrick Quinn added that the combined strength would enhance the firm’s ability to invest in top talent in a fiercely competitive legal market, as well as in artificial intelligence and other technology at what he called a vital time for such investments.
Pre merger, Hogan Lovells was the bigger firm by some distance, with 35 offices worldwide. Cadwalader, by comparison, operated just five offices but carried an elite reputation in finance and capital markets work. The combination gives the new firm unusual depth in both breadth and specialty practices.
The deal has already produced some growing pains. Shortly before the merger went live, Hogan Lovells raised newly qualified solicitor salaries in London from 140,000 to 145,000 pounds, while associates who joined from Cadwalader’s London office were told they would remain on their old pay scales, which were higher and followed the elite Cravath Scale used by top New York firms. Managing pay harmonization across the combined partnership is expected to be one of management’s early tests.
The Hogan Lovells Cadwalader deal is part of a historic wave of BigLaw consolidation. In the same week the merger went live, Ashurst combined with the American firm Perkins Coie to create Ashurst Perkins Coie, a new firm with more than 3,000 lawyers and revenues of around 2 billion pounds. Industry analysts say the merger wave reflects pressure to achieve the scale needed to invest in AI driven legal technology and to serve multinational clients seamlessly.
Whether the mega mergers deliver on their promises will become clearer over the next two years as integration proceeds and clients decide whether bigger truly means better.
Sources: Legal Cheek, Above the Law. Image: Law library bookshelves, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
