Massive strategic transactions and technology deals pushed global M&A values in the first half of 2026 above the half-year peaks seen in the 2021 dealmaking boom, but experts say the market remains uneven and second-half expectations hinge on the absence of further geopolitical shocks.  
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THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2026 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

Analysis

Megadeals Driving Record M&A Values In Uneven 2026 Market

By Al Barbarino

Massive strategic transactions and technology deals pushed global M&A values in the first half of 2026 above the half-year peaks seen in the 2021 dealmaking boom, but experts say the market remains uneven and second-half expectations hinge on the absence of further geopolitical shocks.  

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Kirkland Guides $10.2B Starwood Opportunistic RE Fund

By Isaac Monterose

Starwood Capital Group, advised by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, has closed an opportunistic real estate fund after raising more than $10.2 billion from over 300 investors from 20 countries, a representative for the private investment firm stated Wednesday.

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Latham-Led Bending Spoons Leads Trio Of IPOs Topping $2B

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Italian mobile app developer Bending Spoons hit the public markets after raising $1.7 billion in its initial public offering, marking the largest of three IPOs to begin trading on Wednesday, exceeding $2.1 billion in total deal volume.

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Hogan Lovells Cadwalader Sees 'Opportunity' In Boston

By Chris Villani

With the official launch of Hogan Lovells Cadwalader, Boston attorneys at Hogan Lovells are expecting the firm to be able to leverage Cadwalader's strengths and some of the Hub's unique traits in what they call a truly "additive" merger.

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LITIGATION

Chinese Investors Say Wash. EB-5 Developer Misused Funds

By Elaine Briseño

Chinese investors have filed a RICO Act lawsuit in Washington federal court, alleging that developers of a partially completed mixed-use project on a former copper smelter Superfund site along Puget Sound misused funds from their $39 million investment in the venture and let it fall into default.

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4 Mass. Rulings You May Have Missed In June

By Julie Manganis

An advisory firm's failure to register as a broker before diving into work on a $2.1 billion take-private deal last year has cost it, while emails and text messages took center stage in several other disputes pending in Massachusetts state court in June.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

More Cos. Will Copy SpaceX's Shareholder Proposal Opt-Out

For more than 80 years, the shareholder proposal looked like a federal right guaranteed to all public company investors, but after SpaceX opted out before its recent initial public offering, other companies are likely to follow, says Mohsen Manesh at the University of Oregon School of Law.

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Attorney Mental Health Is An Ethical Obligation In The AI Era

As attorneys cope with the increasing unpredictability that artificial intelligence and constant policy changes have created, particularly in practice areas where they carry the emotional weight of clients’ most consequential life events, otherwise soft discussions about self-care are a matter of professional competence, says attorney Jack Jrada.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Legal Sector Jobs Spike With Work 'Churning Right Along'

By Aebra Coe

The legal sector added 5,100 jobs in June, the largest increase the industry has seen in more than two years, according to preliminary, seasonally adjusted data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Thursday.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, the Asian Law Caucus and the Democracy Defenders Fund lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected President Donald Trump's bid to limit birthright citizenship.

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Feds Seek Up To 21 Months For Ex-Judge On ICE Obstruction

By Elizabeth Daley

A former Wisconsin judge who was convicted of obstructing ICE officers' courthouse arrest of a man facing misdemeanor charges by pointing him to a side door should spend up to 21 months in prison, the government said in a sentencing memo, recommending she be made an example.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week 

By Sue Reisinger

Amid the changes coming for general counsel, the policies and enforcement priorities of federal regulators may fluctuate more rapidly after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling this week that could dramatically remake independent government agencies. And the EEOC rescinded affirmative action documents that have guided employers for decades.

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Georgia Atty Can't Revive Defamation Suit Over Ethics Case

By Emily Johnson

The Georgia Court of Appeals has upheld the dismissal of a Georgia attorney's defamation suit against two people involved in an unsuccessful disciplinary action against her, saying her rambling appeal failed to prove that the trial court erred in dismissing her claims.

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When Does A Firm's 'Breakup' Fee-Split Contract Go Too Far?

By Rachel Rippetoe

It looked like a win for plaintiffs' firms when the Kentucky Supreme Court recently upheld a firm's 75% claim on fees from cases an attorney took with him when he launched his own practice, but the narrow ruling may leave room for lawyers to challenge similar agreements as penalties for leaving their firms.

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Judges To Tour Rust Belt To Build Trust In Courts

By James Boyle

Days after the Fourth of July celebration of America's 250th birthday, a group of current and retired judges will lead a four-day bus tour through three states to promote one of the bedrock principles of the country's independence: the rule of law.

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Analysis

Breaking Down The Vote: The High Court Term In Review

By Jack Karp

The U.S. Supreme Court's stark ideological divisions were on full display this term, particularly as it issued long-awaited rulings in the last few days of June. Here, Law360 dives into the numbers behind this court term.

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Mass Tort Titan Paul J. Napoli Dies

By Daniel Moritz-Rabson

Paul J. Napoli, an influential plaintiffs attorney who worked on some of the nation's highest-profile mass tort matters in recent decades, died on Tuesday at the age of 58.

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Skadden Adds Mass Torts Litigator As Partner In Chicago

By Christine DeRosa

Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP has grown its mass torts litigation offerings in Chicago with the addition of a Goldman Ismail Tomaselli Brennan & Baum LLP attorney, the firm said.

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'Embarrassed' Conn. Atty Details ChatGPT Briefing Errors

By Aaron Keller

With a sanctions hearing on the horizon, a Connecticut attorney has told the state's highest court he is "extremely embarrassed" by artificial intelligence errors in briefs filed in two recently decided cases, explaining he used ChatGPT to edit his research without knowing it could make "unprompted changes to the content."

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Del. Magistrate Orders JPMorgan To Advance Javice Fees

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court ruled Thursday that JPMorgan Chase & Co. must advance millions more in disputed legal fees to cover the appeal of the convicted founder of college financial aid startup Frank, concluding the bank failed to meet Delaware's demanding standard for withholding advancement by showing the billing requests reflected "clear abuse."

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Ex-DOJ Fraud Section Chief Joins Fried Frank

By Nadia Dreid

Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP has added a veteran litigator from the U.S. Department of Justice who also brings more than a decade of experience representing financial institutions in white collar, enforcement and complex litigation spaces.

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Reed Smith Adds Ex-Norton Rose Partner, RE Atty In Munich

By Nate Beck

Reed Smith LLP has bolstered its private equity practice with the hire of a former Norton Rose Fulbright group leader in Munich.

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McCarter Atty Knew 'Magic Words' For $20M Deals, Court Told

By Brian Steele

If a onetime McCarter & English LLP partner had raised a single red flag about a Long Island town's legally flimsy agreement to repay $20 million worth of a businessman's loans, the ill-fated deals never would have gone forward, a Connecticut court heard Thursday.

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COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

3M Co.

AOL

AT&T Inc.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

American Civil Liberties Union

American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts

American Immigration Lawyers Association

Ant Financial Services Group

Asian American Center for Advancing Justice

AvalonBay Communities Inc.

Baillie Gifford & Co.

Bayer AG

Black Duck Software Inc.

Capital One Financial Corp.

Chevron Corp.

Cisco Systems Inc.

Concord

Connecticut Fair Housing Center

Corteva Inc.

Cox Communications Inc.

Dealogic LLC

Dominion Energy Inc.

Durable Capital Partners LP

Entergy Corp.

Equity Residential

Exxon Mobil Corp.

GE Aerospace

Gerson Lehrman Group Inc.

Giant Eagle Inc.

Google LLC

Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC

Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.

Intel Corp.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Justice in Motion

LexisNexis Legal & Professional

Lime Micromobility

LinkedIn Corp.

Major Lindsey & Africa LLC

Merck & Co. Inc.

Meta Platforms Inc.

Michaels Stores Inc.

Monsanto Co.

NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund Inc.

Nasdaq Inc.

National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

New England Asset Management Inc.

New York University

NextEra Energy Inc.

Oaktree Capital Management

Palantir Technologies Inc.

PepsiCo Inc.

Pfizer Inc.

Plymouth Industrial REIT Inc.

Pro Bono Institute

QUALCOMM Inc.

RELX PLC

Robert Bosch GmbH

Salesforce.com Inc.

Snap Inc.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp.

Starwood Capital Group

State Bar of Georgia

Synopsys Inc.

The Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

The Kroger Co.

TikTok Inc.

Uber Technologies Inc.

Vimeo Inc.

Virginia State Bar

YouTube Inc.

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Advisors LLC

Alston & Bird

Arnall Golden

Bartlit Beck

Cascadia Law Group

Cleary Gottlieb

Clement & Murphy

Cooley LLP

Cozen O'Connor

Davis Polk

Faegre Drinker

FisherBroyles

Fried Frank

Gimbel Reilly

Goldman Ismail

Greenberg Traurig

Harris Beach Murtha

Hogan Lovells

Hughes Hubbard

Isaacs & Isaacs

Jenner & Block

Jones Day

Kilpatrick Townsend

Kirkland & Ellis

Kobre & Kim

Latham & Watkins

Logan Vance

Lowell & Associates

Marc J. Bern & Partners

McCarter & English

McGavick Graves

Mignott Law Group

Milbank LLP

Mintz Levin

MoloLamken

Moran Reeves

Morgan & Morgan PA

Morrison & Foerster

Napoli Shkolnik

Norton Rose

Pillsbury Winthrop

Potter Anderson

Quinn Emanuel

Reed Smith

Silver Golub

Skadden Arps

Squire Patton

Strang Bradley

Todd & Weld

Troutman

Wiggin & Dana

WilmerHale

Withersworldwide

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Bureau of Industry and Security

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Delaware Court of Chancery

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Communications Commission

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Federal Reserve System

Federal Trade Commission

Food and Drug Administration

Georgia Court of Appeals

Georgia Supreme Court

Los Angeles Superior Court

Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers

Michigan Supreme Court

National Labor Relations Board

Ohio Supreme Court

Superior Court of Massachusetts

U.S. Attorney's Office

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

U.S. Department of Commerce

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Supreme Court

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin