On 1 July, Wednesday, law firms Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft rebranded as Hogan Lovells Cadwalader (HLC) (press release) after having completed the merger that announced in December 2025 (see here a previous post by BeBeez) and the partners approved in April 2026 (see here a previous post by BeBeez).
This is the largest merger in the history of law firms. HLC has over 3200 lawyers across the Americas, EMEA and APAC, a turnover of above 3.6 billion US dollars, over 900 partners and a presence in more than 18 countries. The new firm’s five growth hubs are London, Washington DC, New York, Germany and the FRIS region (France, Italy and Spain).
Miguel A. Zaldivar, Jr., the former ceo of Hogan Lovells that now heads HLC, said: “The launch of this new firm is a pivotal moment for both the parties, bringing together two long-established institutions with a proven track record of excellence in the legal sector. We continue to build on these strengths whilst paying close attention to the evolving needs of our clients, who are increasingly seeking advisers capable of guiding them through the most complex issues in the major G20 economies”.
Pat Quinn , HLC Global Managing Partner for the integration of clients and practices and former Cadwalader co-managing partner, added: “The journey that led us to this achievement highlighted the importance of cultural compatibility for the success of this merger. We took an accurate approach to integrating our practices and clients to ensure that, right from day one, our clients can benefit fully from the new platform we created”.
Wes Misson, Global Managing Partner for the Finance Practice and former co-managing partner of Cadwalader, said: “Capital drives markets and fuels the companies, technologies and infrastructure that shape the future. Our global platform – the only one of its kind, built on best practices rooted in the world’s leading financial centres –connects clients who allocate capital with the funds and companies that need it to innovate, expand and compete”.
Patrizio Messina, Hogan Lovells managing partner Italy, commented: “We are delighted with this merger that further strengthens the firm’s international positioning. Whilst it will not have any structural impact at a local level, the merger significantly expands our ability to assist clients with the most sophisticated cross-border transactions thanks to a top-tier financial platform. HLC will provide Italian clients with even more direct access to the US market and offer overseas clients with interests in Europe a more comprehensive and integrated legal support grace to our well-established presence across the Old Continent. Italy remains a key market in our global strategy and we will continue to invest to provide the best possible support to both local and international clients.”
The merger will accelerate Hogan Lovells Cadwalader’s leadership in AI-powered legal services. Cadwalader will benefit from Hogan Lovells’ joint venture, ELTEMATE, and its proprietary chatbot, CRAIG, which already supports over 4,400 users.
Hogan Lovells was born in 2010 out of the merger of the American firm Hogan & Hartson with the British firm Lovells, the latter having been present in Italy since 2000. Lovells was one of London’s oldest law firms, founded 125 years ago. Hogan Lovells then grew rapidly in New York, strengthening its expertise in particular in M&A, sports deals, commercial litigation and real estate, partly thanks to the acquisition, two years ago, of the real estate practice of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan. In Germany, the firm has over 450 lawyers across Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich, with over 135 years’ presence on the German market; in the France-Italy-Spain region, it has over 400 lawyers, with 22 practice areas featured in the Chambers rankings (source: press release provided). Cadwalader, boorn in 1792, is the oldest law firm on Wall Street: it played a decisive role in the evolution of structured finance and securitisation, fund and real estate finance, derivatives and other sophisticated structured products, whilst also developing expertise in bank lending, M&A, litigation, restructuring and wealth management.
