Kirkland-Led Wind Point Secures $3.2B For 11th Fund

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Chicago-based private equity firm Wind Point Partners, led by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, on Wednesday revealed that it wrapped its latest fund with $3.2 billion in tow.

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4 Firms Steer Grant Thornton's $5B Agreement To Buy CBIZ

By Al Barbarino

New Mountain Capital-backed Grant Thornton Advisors said Wednesday it has agreed to acquire CBIZ Inc. in a deal worth $5 billion, including debt, that would create a top-five U.S. provider of professional, tax and advisory services. 

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Bain, Tillman Plug $1.5B Into Eaton Fiber To Fund Ripple Buy

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Bain Capital, led by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, and Tillman Global Holdings, advised by Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, on Wednesday announced that they have plugged $1.5 billion into telecommunications company Eaton Fiber, while simultaneously announcing Eaton Fiber's plan to acquire fiber optic internet provider and network operator Ripple Fiber.

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Brookfield, NextEra Plan $100B Data Center Build At DOE Site

By Nate Beck

Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP is advising Brookfield on a U.S. Department of Energy effort announced Wednesday to redevelop parts of an agency site in Paducah, Kentucky, into a $100 billion data center campus that would also include new affordable energy infrastructure as part of a venture with NextEra Energy and local utilities.

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Sullivan & Cromwell Aids Apax's €1.5B Packing Cos. Purchase

By Najiyya Budaly

Private equity firm Apax Partners LLP will buy two businesses from Gerresheimer AG of Germany for €1.5 billion ($1.7 billion), the companies said Wednesday, as they seek expansion for the pharmaceutical packaging companies in the U.S.

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Amicus Briefs Back Decertification In Juul, Altria Antitrust Suit

By Mike Curley

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 14 states led by Iowa, and legal interest groups are urging the Ninth Circuit to throw out class certification in antitrust litigation against Altria and Juul, joining the companies in arguing that the trial court misapplied California law to apply to other states.

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Aterian Loses Dismissal Bid In P.J. Mechanical Suit

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Superior Court has refused to dismiss a lawsuit accusing private equity firm Aterian Investment Partners of improperly draining millions of dollars from a holding company to avoid paying earnout obligations owed to the former owners of P.J. Mechanical, finding that the founders plausibly alleged that Aterian intentionally interfered with their contract.

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Australian Asset Manager Perpetual Rejects $1.8B EQT Bid

By Najiyya Budaly

Australian financial services group Perpetual said Wednesday that it has rejected a third approach from Swedish private equity unit EQT of 2.6 billion Australian dollars ($1.8 billion), but indicated that it would be open to an improved proposal.

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Paul Hastings, Vinson & Elkins Guide $2.2B Permian Combo

By Al Barbarino

SoftVest LP and Blackbeard Holdings have agreed to combine the Dallas-based Permian Basin Royalty Trust with Blackbeard's oil and gas mineral and land assets in a transaction valued at about $2.24 billion, with Paul Hastings LLP advising SoftVest and Vinson & Elkins LLP representing Blackbeard.

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Jones Day, Gibson Dunn Steer $200M Sale Of WaterFleet

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Mobile water and wastewater utility services provider WaterFleet LLC, advised by Jones Day, said Wednesday that it has agreed to be bought by Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP-led water technology company Xylem Inc. in a $200 million deal.

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Brief

Lending Firm YSA Hits Ch. 11 With Over $500M In Debt

By Alex Wittenberg

YSA Investments 1, a private lender and asset management company, has filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware bankruptcy court with more than $500 million in debt.

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DLA Piper Welcomes 4 Finance Attys

By Andrea Keckley

DLA Piper announced Tuesday that it has brought four attorneys onto its finance team, touting their history advising investors, lenders, sponsors and companies.

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Advocacy Group Says Law Firm Fellowship Program Biased

By Patrick Hoff

A legal advocacy group said Thursday it had lodged U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charges against a nonprofit and law firms including Jones Day, White & Case and Morgan Lewis, claiming Muslim and Middle Eastern students were getting unlawful preference in a fellowship program.

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ABA Eyes Nixing School DEI Standards To Sway Trump Admin

By Emma Cueto

The American Bar Association is poised next week to eliminate the first of multiple diversity-related law school standards, a controversial move that it hopes will allow it to remain an accreditor despite an uncertain outcome in the face of a Trump administration increasingly wary of the association's role in legal education.

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WilmerHale Sued Over Accidental Client Data Disclosure

By Andrea Keckley

A proposed federal class action filed Wednesday accuses WilmerHale of failing to protect clients' personal information after an employee allegedly disclosed sensitive data, including Social Security numbers, to an unauthorized person who misrepresented their identity back in May.

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2 Traders Admit Guilt In Stolen BigLaw Info Scheme

By Chris Villani

Two men pled guilty Thursday in Massachusetts federal court to their roles in a sweeping scheme to trade on inside information stolen from huge corporate law firms about upcoming deals.

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Ill. Atty Sanctioned For AI Slop In Starbucks Bias Suit

By Adrian Cruz

A unanimous Illinois appeals court sanctioned an attorney representing a former Starbucks employee in a workplace discrimination suit after determining that he submitted briefs using false citations and quotations hallucinated by artificial intelligence software.

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Trump May Renominate Blanche If GOP Holdouts Block Vote

By Courtney Bublé

With Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., still on the fence about acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's confirmation to be attorney general, President Donald Trump said Thursday he might renominate Blanche next year when the two senators are no longer serving in the Senate.

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DA Says Trump's NY Hush Money Conviction Must Stand

By Frank G. Runyeon

New York prosecutors told a state appellate court that President Donald Trump's 34-count felony conviction for falsifying business records is "unaffected" by the U.S. Supreme Court's watershed presidential immunity decision and should be upheld.

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Judiciary's Bid To Control Courthouses Gets Senate Push

By Courtney Bublé

A bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill on Thursday that would create a pilot program for the federal judiciary to obtain direct authority to maintain its buildings, which the judiciary says is desperately needed.

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Bronx Legal Aid Organization's Union Rejects New Pay Offer

By Andrea Keckley

The Bronx Defenders' executive director said on Thursday that the union representing the organization's over 300 attorneys and staff has rejected an updated offer on wages, with both sides still at odds over the prospect of separate salary scales for lawyers and social workers.

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