Anthony Matthews
14 April 2026
Spring Market Update
As London is awash with tulips and daffodils, it seems that the long, dark & incredibly wet winter is finally coming to an end as we look towards summer. The legal market in London doesn’t seem to be sprouting quite like the flowers of spring but there are green shoots appearing. However, the insecurity continually caused by geopolitical elements is constantly on the minds of firms when it comes to hiring.
The increase in interest rates in 2022 led to a significant slowdown in the London and New York hiring markets, especially at the associate level. A prolonged event in the Gulf could eventually lead to this which could lead to the market eventually slowing. But for now, we’re seeing an increase in roles across core areas of corporate and finance which is often a sign of a healthy market.
Continued Growth of US firms
Last month, we had a closer look at the rise of the US firms in London – https://www.matthewsandcarter.com/blog/growth-of-the-us-firms-in-london . The latest signpost of growth was posted in some of the most recent financial reports including an absolutely massive $11m PEP posted by Kirkland & Ellis - https://www.nonbillable.co.uk/news/kirkland-record-law-firm-profits-pep-11-million. Although not every partner is making the big, big bucks, passing the $10m mark for PEP is outstanding and also shows the huge fees that firms can make in the sponsor side markets.
Another sign of US firms becoming more entrenched in the London market was the news that Simpson Thacher will be following Paul Weiss in offering training contracts- https://www.legalcheek.com/2026/01/us-firm-simpson-thacher-to-launch-london-training-contract/ . STB have often been one of the most aggressive hirers at NQ so this is as good a story for the magic circle firms who have been losing their fourth seat trainees to the NY behemoth, especially across private equity and funds.
Partner Movement
Sullivan & Cromwell have continued to decimate Weil Gotshal of their partners over recent weeks and months since setting up with Weil veteran Mike Francies and Kirkland star Kon Asimacopoulos.
Whilst the tete-a-tete between Sidley and Latham & Watkins continues with the firms swapping partners like the participants of a Saturday evening party at a quiet house on a cul-de-sac in Surrey with pampas grass in the front garden - https://www.nonbillable.co.uk/news/sidley-austin-hires-james-inness
Sidley have also hired partners from firms that aren’t Lathams including an eye-catching capture of two Clifford Chance restructuring partners - https://www.legalbusiness.co.uk/law-firms/sidley-hits-clifford-chance-for-heavyweight-restructuring-duo-as-firms-london-hiring-gathers-pace/
Mazur Judgement
The Mazur judgement case has had broad impacts on firms in London hiring foreign qualified disputes lawyers. The ruling in late ’25 was that overseas qualified lawyers were no longer able to practice many elements of litigation https://www.hsfkramer.com/notes/litigation/2025-10/what-can-a-non-admitted-fee-earner-do-when-working-on-litigated-matters. This went to a successful appeal at the end of March. As such, thankfully foreign qualified lawyers will be able to practice in a similar way to pre-judgement late last year but this has led to a lot of anxiety within the disputes market.
Changes in Exchange Rates
I’ve been looking at flights to Australia for about two weeks now and the £ to A$ exchange rate hasn’t been as favourable as in my last few visits + flying through the Middle East is no longer viable! However, there are benefits for Aussies visiting the UK and seeing that their dollaroos are going further than they have recently!
Another change has been with £ and USD. This is resulting in those firms that pay a fixed exchange / very good fixed salary paying a lot more than their competitors who pay on the rolling scale.
The rate has steadily decreased over the last 12 months from $1 = £0.78 to now sitting around £0.72. Now this doesn’t seem like much when you lose six pennies to the dollar but when you’re talking about a lot of pennies, it can have quite an effect, especially when comparing to firms that pay a fixed exchange rate.
If we compare the 3rd year Cravath Scale salary ($310,000) converted at these levels, it gives you a salary of £241,800 at the highest point compared to £223,200 at the lowest. The highest fixed salary US firm pays £260,000 to 3rd years so the difference can be huge!
Practice Areas
We have seen the emergence of a stronger corporate market recently, mainly driven by deal flow increasing in New York. As corporate has been quieter the last couple of years, there are a number of locally qualified lawyers looking which satisfies the demand. However, we’re hoping that if this corporate activity continues, this should thin the candidate market meaning that firms are more likely to look at overseas lawyers. Other hot practice areas are mainly within debt finance such as real estate finance, restructuring & securitisation.
The demand for overseas lawyers in other practice areas has remained at a pretty consistent level, not helped by the recent Mazur Judgement uncertainty. We’re not expecting this to change dramatically over the next quarter and all eyes will be on the White House and any global impact that causes.