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  Tyrant Julius Caesar, portrayed in Shakespeare's history play , looks up stunned at long-time ally Brutus. The latter is among those murdering him. The iconic line from that is: "Et Tu, Brutus." The theme is the need for the public interest to take priorty over personal loyalty. That drama was staged in 1599. And, in 2026, we have the same sort of staging, even before the midterms which is being described, as the "Twilight of the Don."  It takes the form of an "Et Tu, Karl (Rove)." Among his choices of the public interest over party loyalty Rove broadcasts that he's voting Democrat in Texas.  Yes, this is Mr. GOP, turning on what may be perceived as the analogue of Caesar. Meanwhile, there's plenty of manifesting of what America could become the day after the midterms. With the imperial presidency in retreat, so much of the toxic issues dominating since the 2024 election will dissolve into nothingness. Not even left will be much of a bad mem...

It's come to this: Law firm Weil Gotshal has found itself on the wrong side of the global talent war. As a result, the buzz now is it could be exploring a merger with a rival. That should send a chill throughout the firm. Mergers generate redundancies. That can mean loss of jobs. Weil denies that it is in merger talks. Bloomberg Law,  in reporting on this, goes on to document: "Cravath Swaine & Moore is bringing on Aiello along with five other top Weil partners, including Matthew Gilroy, co-head of the firm’s mergers and acquisitions practice. Sullivan & Cromwell [is] … hiring David Avery-Gee, Weil’s co-managing partner in London, and Sarah Flaherty, a partner in Weil’s corporate group in the UK capital." Meanwhile, other law firms experiencing the exits of high-profile partners include Cadwalader, Paul, Weiss, Wachtell and Willkie Farr. Ironically, until recently, Cravath was being watched for partner flight. In the first few weeks of 2026, four partners had lef...

"Father Time always wins." That's what Warren Buffett observed as he stepped down from chairmanship at Berkshire Hathaway. He remains involved with the corporation, though. And he didn't admit this kind of defeat until age 96. If Buffett's hold on that title, power and influence clogged the mobility pipeline there wasn't balking. At least not in public. It was at age 63 that Greg Abel took over Buffett's CEO responsibilities. Yet, here we are with large law firms contending that aging lawyers have to be eased out or, worse, pushed out, to facilitate upward mobility for the next generations. If that's not done, reports The Wall Street Journal,  impatient talent could leave. That is sometimes called keeping the firm "culturally young." The example given is this: "When six lawyers stunned the legal world by leaving Wachtell for Gibson Dunn recently, one of the reasons was a feeling that Wachtell wasn’t clearing the way for new leadership,...

  About eight months into the Scott Barshay era at Paul, Weiss what continues to play out is flight of star litigation partners.  Since retaining those brandname partners is a key metric of how a law firm is doing, this latest development adds to questions if Barshay, prominent in M&A and as a rainmaker, can lead. Leadership is very different from managing. Barshay's bashing of the litigation folks at the firm, reported by The New York Times  in early August, seems to keep biting him in the butt. According to the paper of record: "At a dinner ... Mr. Barshay belittled the litigators, saying that they were soft and didn’t know how to bring in business ..." Paul, Weiss indicated the statements were mischaracterized. Well, apparently the latest exit happened fast. Not even Kimberly Branscome's LinkedIn profile has recorded the poaching by Gibson Dunn. Bloomberg Law , though, caught it: "Los Angeles-based Branscome is joining Gibson Dunn as co-chair of its gro...

  The sticky story in Big Law has shifted. Abruptly. Remember how it was about, including on "60 Minutes," the dealmaking with the Trump administration. Books like "Regime Change" and "Profiles in Cowardice" are still trying to run with that same-old. But, the reality is that those who had been in the loop on that one, such as Paul, Weiss partner Brad Karp, essentially have returned to the normal work of being aggressive representatives for clients. For Karp those include Apollo, Citi and the NFL. The guy is doing great. So are the lawyers at the other eight law firms which negotiated the Executive Orders with the White House. Now, the story, presented in urgent tones, is about hiring. That extends from entry level to those lateral star partners. In the front lines of this are legal journalists Roy Strom at Bloomberg Law and Sara Randazzo at Reuters Legal .  Let's cut to the chase. The grabber is that the leaders making those hiring decisions are more...

Sure, trend watchers know. Marriage is so 20th century. Fewer and fewer couples are getting married. According to Knot , that numbers about 2 million. But here is the reality that bites us, especially in the pocketbook. Of those who marry, over 80% will have a wedding. For those of us who are financially challenged or fear that in the near future (layoff) an invitation to that wedding could be unwelcome. So much so that The Wall Street Journal covers the new etiquette of declining to participate.  Believe it or not, if you're feeling this way, you have lots of company. Research from the Bank of America Institute  found that almost 60% of those receiving an invitation would decline because of their budgets. If the event happens out-of-town there's even more financial incentive to say "no." In addition to purchasing an outfit and ponying up a gift (cash is preferred) there are the expenses of transportation, lodging and meals away from home.  Manners experts recommend ...