Big Law's biggest stories of the year

Law firms were thrust into domestic and geopolitical controversies in 2023. Several rescinded job offers over students’ comments on Israel and Palestine, and firms became a fresh target of anti-DEI activists in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling eliminating affirmative action in higher education.

Here are the legal industry stories that mattered most in 2023 , as told by the numbers.

$225,000

In spite of a broad slowdown in corporate work, Milbank in early November upped its associate salary scale, with first-year associates earning a base pay of $225,000. Cravath Swaine & Moore, the industry standard-setter on wages, followed suit weeks later with a seniority-based scale between $225,000 and $420,000.

90

A slowdown in work hit technology-focused operations particularly hard. Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe in June laid off 90 attorneys and staff, about 6% of its workforce, and delayed first-year-associate start dates from the fall to mid-January.

The move aligned with steps other Silicon Valley law firms took, as they dealt with with overcapacity issues stemming from stagnant demand in M&A and capital markets practices.

3,900

UK Magic Circle firm Allen & Overy and New-York based Shearman & Sterling combined in a merger that creates another mega-law firm with about 3,900 lawyers across the globe. The merger, which will create A&O Shearman, is expected to officially close in May 2024.

The merger underscores how big some firms have gotten amid increased consolidation in the industry.

Read the rest of the biggest stories of the year .

5 Biggest M&A Deals Aided by Big Law in 2023

Despite a slow deals market, with transactions down 14%, there were several bright spots in 2023. Topping the list were energy, health care, and pharmaceutical deals .

In October, Exxon Mobil Corp. announced its all-stock $59.5 billion acquisition of rival Pioneer Natural Resources Co. Davis Polk & Wardwell advised ExxonMobil. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher acted as legal adviser to Pioneer. Fried Frank advised Goldman Sachs as financial adviser to Pioneer.

Chevron Corp. announced its purchase of energy competitor Hess Corp. in an all-stock transaction valued at $53 billion. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison advised Chevron. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz advised Hess.

Pfizer Inc. in March announced its plans to acquire cancer-drug maker Seagen Inc. for $43 billion. Wachtell acted as Pfizer’s legal adviser. Sullivan & Cromwell advised Seagen. The mega health care deal was a product of Pfizer’s generous cash holdings from sales of Covid-19 vaccines and therapies.

Law Firms & Lawyers Who Were Sued in 2023

Litigation is many lawyers’ bread and butter, but when they themselves are the target of a lawsuit, they could end up eating crow.

The collapse of crypto exchange FTX shows how lawyers and law firms became entangled in controversy. Other firms got swept into legal fights stemming from cyberattacks. A showdown in Washington also featured Covington & Burling squaring off against the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Justin Wise takes a look back at the past year to chronicle the most notable cases —from allegations of filing errors and conflicts of interest to claims of hacking and fraud—where lawyers or law firms were in the hot seat.

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