3 Top Legal Industry Stories Around the World in November

- 18 November, 2025

Key Issues

Large mergers and acquisitions taking lead on global shake ups
Perkins Coie and Ashurst establish global dominance totaling $2.7 billion in revenues
Anti money laundering efforts begin to make waves in the UK
UK encouraging the use of new technologies to monitor transactions involving potential ML
Even with hard times hitting certain economies, law firms are seeing a large jump in demand

Ashurst and Perkins Coie Merger

Ashurst, a major law firm located in the UK, has agreed to merge with Perkins Coie. Estimated to create one of the top 20 law firms around the world measured by revenues. This is just one transaction in a large movement towards international partnerships taking place in the industry.

As a joint venture the firm will take on the new moniker Ashurst Perkins Coie. The total combined revenue of both teams estimates in the $2.7 billion range. This will make the venture the largest US-UK law firm since Allen & Overy became a part of Shearman & Sterling located in New York city in 2023 ().

Talks have been taking place since February 2025. This move has been in the works even with Perkins Coie being a target of the new Trump administration. This threat came on the back of an executive order that was a risk to the company’s solvency. The process is popularized by numerous firms to remain competitive on the global stage. Paul Jenkins, chief executive officer of Ashurst, and Bill Malley, managing partner of Perkins Coie agreed that there has been an uptick in the requests from clients old and new for a larger map under representation.

Perkins Coie previously won the legal battle over Trump’s threats to remove security clearance, but the DOJ has said it will appeal. Jenkins and Malley agreed even with the executive order in place both teams would continue with the merger. Malley confirmed there would not be a single headquarter location but will have hubs in Seattle, London, Sydney and New York.

Anti Money Laundering Violations in UK Law Firms

It has been recently brought to light that nearly one-third of soliciting law firms have broken the anti-money laundering rules over the past year. Totaling 1.5 million pounds that was revealed after the minister removed Solicitors Regulation Authority of responsibility when monitoring lawyer’s compliance.

The SRA proved 9,149 firms in England and Wales beginning in April and showed 5,569 fell within the bounds of the rules in place. A total of 545,650 sterling pound was charged in fines to the necessary firms. The largest reported breach of law were risk assessments of clients themselves or specific legal instructions.

SRA’s chief executive reported that the firm was using an increased technology presence to alert for any suspicious activity involving potential money laundering. There will be a change coming shortly regarding leadership within the Financial Conduct Authority that will dictate future investigations and oversight.

Legal firms hit new highs with record breaking demand

The third quarter financial index regarding law firms has seen a 3.9% gain compared to last year. The only larger bounce back came from 2021 when post pandemic. The breakdown concerning which law firms received different increases are as follows. Midsized law firms saw a 6.1% increase in demand compared to 2024. Transactional segments that saw growth are mergers and acquisitions saw a 7.6% increase over 2024. Litigation and corporate law saw 4.3%, real estate 4.2% and labor & employment law saw an increase of 4%.

Revenue per lawyer saw an annual 6.6% increase year-over-year. The expenses also rose in unison with the new revenues. The largest investment made by most firms was the investment in technology for transactional work. “Law firms are balancing their increased workload by investing technology and new talent. Firms are taking advantage of the competitive market for new associates and providing legal services to new clients”.

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