Mapped: What Would the Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader Merger Look Like?

19 December 2025

Yesterday, news broke of yet another Big Law merger! Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader announced their plans to combine, looking to launch in July 2026, according to Law.com. In November, we reported that Cadwalader had entered merger talks with Alston & Bird. However, the firm is now clearly pursuing an alternative tie-up.


If successful, the merger would create a new legal powerhouse, with more than 3,100 lawyers globally and an estimated $3.6 billion in annual revenue. 'Hogan Lovells Cadwalader' would rank as the fifth largest firm in the world by revenue.


This latest announcement follows a string of recent merger discussions, including Winston & Strawn and Taylor Wessing, and Ashurst and Perkins Coie, making 2025 a very busy year for Big Law combinations.


Using publicly-available data tracked by Pirical Legal Professionals (PLP), we've taken a look at which locations & practices would grow under the merger, and how many Partners might be expected to leave throughout the talks.

Hogan Lovells Stands to Significantly Strengthen its Footprint in the New York City Market

The combination would bolster Hogan Lovell's Partner numbers in New York City (+72%), London (+12%), Washington, D.C. (+8) and Dublin (+57%), as well as offer a new office location in Charlotte (+17 Partners).

Map showing Hogan Lovells partner headcount changes after merging with Cadwalader. US and UK locations; some growth shown.
Map of US and UK showing Hogan Lovells partner headcount change by merging with CowWalker, highlighting locations with partner increases.

Cadwalader's Expertise in Banking & Finance and Capital Markets means Hogan Lovells Would Expand in Those Practice Areas

Bar graph comparing partner headcount by practice group for Hogan Lovells (green) and Cadwalader (black), as of December 2025.

Both Firms Could Expect to Lose a Small Number of Partners Between Now and the Completion of the Merger

Green bar chart showing decrease in partner headcount between merger announcement and completion, 2018-2025.

Note on methodology

Source: Publicly-available data tracked by Pirical Legal Professionals (PLP)

Notes: Based on all current Hogan Lovells Partners staying post-merger, attorneys with multiple locations have been equally distributed across each

Timeframe: Data as of December 2025

Analysis powered by Pirical Legal Professionals (PLP)

Pirical Legal Professionals is the largest attorney database built with the most comprehensive data on the market. Specifically designed for legal recruitment and legal market research.


Pirical seamlessly aggregates data from a wide range of public sources, tracking over 700,000 attorney profiles worldwide. Our data helps law firms source lateral talent quicker, identify candidates with key client relationships, map competitor firm strategies & team structures, and much more.

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