Lawmakers Raise Alarm Over PE-Backed DOD Contractors

By Madeline Lyskawa

Three Democratic lawmakers wrote to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth expressing concern over the Pentagon's growing reliance on private equity-backed defense contractors, which they said could pose risks to taxpayers and national security.

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Chancery Tosses Insider Financing Suit Against Ayala Brass

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court has dismissed a stockholder derivative suit against several venture capital investors and directors of biotechnology company Ayala Pharmaceuticals Inc., ruling that the plaintiff failed to show the board could not independently evaluate litigation over a disputed 2023 financing deal.

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McDermott-Led Ampersand Clinches $1.5B Fund

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Healthcare-focused private equity firm Ampersand Capital Partners, advised by McDermott Will & Schulte, on Thursday revealed that it closed its latest fund with $1.5 billion.

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3 Firms Guide Rental Property Software Co. Entrata's IPO Plan

By Nate Beck

Rental property management software company Entrata filed for an initial public offering on Thursday with advice from Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC, Latham & Watkins LLP and Ropes & Gray LLP, saying its revenue grew 23% in the first three months of 2026 compared to the same period last year.

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Stoneshield Wraps €1.5B Opportunities Fund

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

European investment firm Stoneshield Capital on Thursday revealed that it closed its fourth opportunities fund after securing €1.5 billion ($1.75 billion) in total capital commitments.

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HVAC Biz Valued At $10B After Apollo Backing, More Rumors

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Private equity giant Apollo took a stake in home services company Apex Service Partners to value it at $10 billion, chipmaker Groq Inc. is hoping to raise $650 million to launch a new company focused on artificial intelligence "neoclouds," and semiconductor company Qualcomm inked a supply deal with TikTok owner ByteDance. Here, Law360 breaks down the notable deal rumors from the past week.

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European Legal AI Startup Nu:legal Raises €1.3M

By Matt Perez

Legal artificial intelligence startup nu:legal has raised €1.3 million ($1.5 million) to develop software that mixes the capabilities of a chatbot with attorney oversight, beginning in the employment law and data privacy fields.

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How SEC, CFTC Proposal Would Ease Private Fund Reporting

While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s recent proposal to streamline and lighten certain confidential reporting requirements could bring welcome changes for many private fund advisers, sponsors should consider important nuances of its potential impact, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

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Finding Borrower Risk In The Private Credit Covenant Mix

Amid rising caution over private credit defaults, investors and their counsel can gain key insights about borrower risk from the particular combination of financial metrics included in a loan's covenants, not just the number of covenants, say Christopher Armstrong at Stanford University, and Carlo Gallimberti and David Tsui at Analysis Group.

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Musk-OpenAI Verdict Shows Value Of Early-Stage Governance

A California federal court's ruling last week in Musk v. Altman preserves the status quo at OpenAI, but signals to the technology industry at large that courts will not relitigate the governance decisions of early-stage organizations on a founder's competitive timetable, surfacing questions that will outlast the litigation, says attorney Alan N. Walter.

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Series

Studying Foreign Languages Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Studying Italian and Japanese has shown me that learning a new language can benefit a legal career in several ways, including by demonstrating the importance of approaching problems from a fresh perspective and the value of practicing patience with colleagues and clients, says Anna King at Genworth Financial.

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Brief

Davis Polk Adds A&O Shearman Antitrust Partner In NY

By Andrea Keckley

Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP has hired a former A&O Shearman partner, who joined its antitrust and competition practice in New York.

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Bonus Spotlight

Selendy Gay Doles Out Spring Associate Bonuses

By Aebra Coe

New York litigation boutique Selendy Gay PLLC paid its associates spring bonuses of as much as $25,000 this week, according to the firm.

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Ex-Calif. Appellate Judge To Take Over As Law School Dean

By Rose Krebs

A former California appellate justice, who was the first Muslim to serve as a Court of Appeal justice in the U.S., has been named Western State College of Law at Westcliff University's next dean.

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Dems Say DOJ Blocked Bondi On Trump Questions

By Courtney Bublé

Democrats were incensed on Friday that the U.S. Department of Justice attorneys who accompanied former Attorney General Pam Bondi to her committee interview stopped her from answering questions about President Donald Trump.

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Civil Rights Icon Clarence B. Jones Dies At 95

By Andrea Keckley

Civil rights icon Clarence B. Jones, a speechwriter and personal attorney to Martin Luther King Jr., died May 22 at an assisted living facility in the Santa Clara County city of Cupertino, California, his family confirmed earlier this week. He was 95.

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Roundup

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Megan Norcott

The past week in London has seen the billionaire who donated £5 million ($6.7 million) to Nigel Farage sue Ben Habib, the leader of far-right party Advance UK, for defamation; Mashreqbank bring claims against three subsidiaries of dissolved private equity giant Abraaj Group for commercial fraud; and the property and investment vehicle of the State of Kuwait be targeted by four real estate figures who filed a miscellaneous claim. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Boies Schiller's Matthew Schwartz

By Sarah Jarvis

Matthew L. Schwartz oscillated among many career aspirations as a kid, from astronaut to mayor of New York. When it was time to head off to college, the man who would go on to handle the prosecution of employees tied to Bernie Madoff and become chair of Boies Schiller Flexner LLP set his sights on science, earning an undergraduate degree in physics.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Phillips Black Inc., Hogan Lovells and Watkins & Eager PLLC lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Black Mississippi death row prisoner who argued racial discrimination tainted his jury selection is entitled to habeas corpus relief.

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DLA Piper Hires Real Estate, Construction Partner In Seattle

By Nate Beck

DLA Piper said it has added a Seattle-based real estate partner with experience advising a range of construction projects including data centers, mixed-use projects, schools and renewable energy facilities.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

Kirkland & Ellis says it's investing a half billion dollars into developing its own artificial intelligence platform to better serve clients. And Law360 looks at the general counsel who is guiding BP through its latest leadership crisis after the company abruptly dismissed its board chair.

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Baker McKenzie Asks Judge Not To Toss Suit Against Ex-Atty

By Alison Knezevich

A lawyer for Baker McKenzie on Friday urged a Washington, D.C., judge not to dismiss the BigLaw firm's defamation suit against a former tax associate who accused a firm office leader of sexual assault, telling the court the accusations were false and made with "malice."

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Fla. Panel Revives Firm's Suit Over Tobacco Case Referrals

By David Minsky

A Florida state appellate court revived a law firm's complaint alleging tortious interference against a widow over a contingency fee agreement involving tobacco injury case referrals, finding that the lower court wrongly tossed the lawsuit based on extraneous information even though there was sufficient evidence to support a claim.

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NY Judge Doubts Nussbaum-Linked Firms Belong In Ch. 11

By Emily Lever

A New York bankruptcy judge on Friday questioned whether his court was the proper venue to wind down two commercial real estate law firms headed by Mark J. Nussbaum as the debtors sought to ditch an assignment for the benefit of creditors process in New York state court.

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Trump Urges 3rd Circ. To Reverse 'Bizarre' Anti-SLAPP Loss

By Dorothy Atkins

President Donald Trump urged the Third Circuit on Thursday to find a Pennsylvania anti-SLAPP statute shields him from the Central Park Five's defamation claims, slamming the lower court's "truly bizarre" ruling in an opening brief filed the same day a DLA Piper partner and others joined Trump's defense team.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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Akin Gump Owes Fees For Winebow's 'Self-Indulgent' Appeal

By Dorothy Atkins

The Ninth Circuit on Thursday ordered an importer's Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP attorneys to pay a European winemaker fees for having to defend against the importer's "spurious objections" to the winemaker's valid arbitral award, ruling that the importer's "self-indulgent" appeal warrants sanctions in the form of fees.

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Colo. Appeals Court Bars One-Way Fees In Eviction Cures

By Zach Dupont

A Colorado Court of Appeals panel on Thursday reversed the dismissal of a proposed class action against a group of landlords, Tschetter Sulzer PC and the Colorado Apartment Association accusing the collective of illegally extracting attorney fees from tenants during eviction proceedings.

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Double Shooting Renews Courthouse Safety Fears In NC

By Hayley Fowler

The shooting of two Fox Rothschild LLP attorneys outside a courthouse in Raleigh, North Carolina, ahead of Memorial Day weekend has renewed calls to protect the safety of judges and lawyers in an increasingly volatile justice system.

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Calif. Panel Reverses Order For Citing Atty's Bogus Case Law

By Dorothy Atkins

A California appellate panel on Thursday reversed a judgment in favor of a man accused of abusing his son, finding that "without doubt" the trial judge abused her discretion by incorporating the man's bogus legal citations into her ruling, despite being alerted to the mistakes in advance.

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