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The Daily Docket

A newsletter by Reuters and Westlaw

By Caitlin Tremblay

Good morning. Dealmakers at top firms are optimistic about M&A this year after a near record 2025. Plus, can the ICE agent who shot a Minneapolis woman can be prosecuted?; Southwest will urge the 5th Circuit to bar the TSA from collecting fees on canceled tickets; and a high-profile lawyer withdrew from Nick Reiner’s defense. A Congo national park celebrated the birth of endangered mountain gorilla twins! It's Thursday already which feels bananas. Let's get going.

M&A lawyers see 'bulging pipeline' for 2026 after deal-crazed year

REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

Law firms feasted on a near record year for mergers and acquisitions in 2025, including the most-ever transactions worth $10 billion or more, according to data released this week by the London Stock Exchange Group.

Four law firms — Kirkland, Latham, Wachtell and Skadden — each served as principal adviser on $600 billion worth of deals or more in 2025, breaking away from the other firms in LSEG's top 20, while Goodwin Procter took the No. 1 principal adviser spot by number of deals.

David Thomas has more on the 2026 M&A outlook.

Coming up today

Government: Southwest Airlines will urge the 5th Circuit to overturn an administrative decision by the TSA holding that the agency is entitled to keep security service fees that airlines collect from passengers on its behalf to fund its services even when some tickets are canceled. Southwest says tens of millions of dollars are at stake in the case.
Abortion access: The 9th Circuit will hear arguments in a Christian church’s challenge to a Washington state law mandating that employer health insurance covers abortion services. In July, the court rescinded a ruling rejecting the church’s arguments and scheduled additional arguments.
Constitutional law: The Ohio Supreme Court will consider whether the state’s constitution offers more protection against unreasonable searches and seizures than the Fourth Amendment.
Criminal: Former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein is due in New York state court to argue that his sexual assault conviction last June should be thrown out due to jury misconduct. The judge overseeing the case will also consider whether Weinstein can be tried for a third time on a charge where the jury deadlocked.

Court calendars are subject to last-minute docket changes.

More top news

Industry insight

Texas became the first state to break with the ABA’s law school oversight, after the state’s top court finalized a plan to establish its own list of law schools whose graduates may practice in the state. Find out more.
President Trump named his first nominees for federal judgeships in 2026, including a former chief counsel for U.S. Senator Ted Cruz and a lawyer involved in fighting class action “abuse.” Find out more.
Moves: Greenberg Traurig hired litigators Aaron Winn and Natalie Bare from Duane Morris … Banking and finance partner Anne Seymour returned to Weil from Foley Hoag … Katten Muchin Rosenman hired James Davison as a partner in its restructuring practice … Public policy partner Kate Goodrich Wright left Holland & Knight for K&L Gates … Meaghan Colligan Hembree moved to DLA Piper’s environmental practice from Holland & Knight … Holland & Hart added securities and capital markets partner Dane Johansen from Parr Brown Gee & Loveless … Hinshaw hired two former McGlinchey Stafford partners to its consumer financial services group: Megan Ben’Ary and Alexander Green … Real estate partner Kasturi Bagchi returned to Honigman from Miller Canfield. Honigman also added Marissa Sims to its corporate department from Winston & Strawn … Vinson & Elkins added tax partner Vinay Prabhakar from Global Infrastructure Partners … Government strategies and controversies partner Solomon Shinerock moved to Morrison Cohen from Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss … Emerging companies and venture capital partner Matteo Daste joined Lowenstein Sandler from Mayer Brown … Real estate shareholder Christian Schütz moved to Baker Donelson from K&L Gates … Haynes Boone added labor and employment partner Jason Elliott from Perkins Coie … Commercial and antitrust partner Emily Chen joined McDermott from Kirkland & Ellis … Labor and employment partner Jason Elliot moved to Haynes Boone from Perkins Coie.
New partners: Alston & Bird elected 22 lawyers to its partnership … Thompson Hine named seven new partners.

$6.2 million

That’s the amount President Trump asked a court to force Georgia prosecutors to reimburse him in legal fees he said he spent fighting claims of interfering in the 2020 presidential election, which a prosecutor dropped in November. Read more here.

In the courts

Ticketmaster urged a federal judge in Los Angeles to dismiss the FTC's case