Hogan Lovells Cadwalader: Inside the 2026 Combination

Last updated: 31 October 2026. This article draws on the firms’ own announcements of 18 December 2025, 15 April 2026 and 1 July 2026, reporting by Bloomberg Law, The Global Legal Post and Legal Cheek, and Yale University’s account of Cadwalader’s history. Figures are the firms’ own unless stated otherwise. It is general information, not investment, career or legal advice.

Short answer: Hogan Lovells Cadwalader is the firm created when Hogan Lovells combined with Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, the New York firm founded in 1792. The deal was announced on 18 December 2025, approved by partners in April 2026 and took effect on 1 July 2026. The firms say it has more than 3,200 lawyers and over $3.6 billion in revenue.

Key takeaways

• The firms announced their intent to combine on 18 December 2025, partners at both firms voted in favour in April 2026, and Hogan Lovells Cadwalader launched on 1 July 2026. The firms call it the largest law firm merger in history.
• At announcement the firms cited about 3,100 lawyers and more than $3.6 billion in revenue based on 2024 results; at launch they cited more than 3,200 lawyers. The Global Legal Post reported combined 2025 revenue above $3.9 billion.
• Miguel Zaldivar, Hogan Lovells’ CEO, leads the combined firm. Cadwalader’s co-managing partners Patrick Quinn and Wesley Misson became global managing partners for client and practice integration and for finance.
• The logic is finance: Cadwalader brings fund finance, structured finance and capital markets work, and a large Charlotte office. The cost was conflicts, which pushed several Cadwalader litigators out before the deal closed.

When was the Hogan Lovells Cadwalader merger announced and completed?

The two firms announced their plan from London and New York on 18 December 2025. The original announcement said the deal was subject to customary closing conditions, including a partner vote at each firm in 2026.

Those votes came in April. The firms published the result on 15 April 2026, and Patrick Quinn told Bloomberg Law that more than 95% of partners at both firms, over 900 people, voted in favour. The combined firm went live on 1 July 2026, which its launch announcement called “Day One.”

How big is Hogan Lovells Cadwalader?

The firms’ December 2025 release gave a combined revenue of more than $3.6 billion, based on 2024 performance, and said that would make the firm the fifth largest in the world by revenue. It counted about 3,100 lawyers in more than 18 countries. By launch day the firm was citing more than 3,200 lawyers. Reporting on the launch, The Global Legal Post said turnover was above $3.9 billion on the two legacy firms’ 2025 results. For how the firm compares with its peers, see our ranking of the biggest law firms in the world.

The announcement broke down the lawyer numbers by market:

The firm organises itself around five hubs: London, Washington, D.C., New York, Germany and the France, Italy and Spain group it calls FRIS. The April release said the combination makes it the second largest firm in Washington, D.C., a top 10 firm in London and a top 25 firm in New York. Bloomberg Law reported that Zaldivar expects around half a billion dollars of New York revenue from corporate and finance work.

Who leads the combined firm and how is it structured?

Hogan Lovells’ leadership stays in place, with Cadwalader partners added at the top. The April 2026 release set out these roles:

• Miguel Zaldivar, Hogan Lovells’ CEO, is CEO of the combined firm.
• Patrick Quinn, Cadwalader co-managing partner, is Global Managing Partner for Client and Practice Integration.
• Wesley Misson, Cadwalader co-managing partner, is Global Managing Partner for the Finance Practice.
• Stuart Goldstein is Deputy Regional Managing Partner for the Americas and co-leads Structured Finance and Derivatives.
• William Mills and Tim Hicks are office managing partners for New York and Charlotte.
• Holly Chamberlain (co-leader of Real Estate) and Angela Batterson joined the firm’s Board.

Four Cadwalader partners sit on the firm’s 21-member International Management Committee, and two sit on its 13-seat Board. The firm’s legal notices describe it as an international practice made up of two separate legal entities, Hogan Lovells Cadwalader International LLP and Hogan Lovells Cadwalader US LLP, and their affiliated businesses. If you want to understand how roles like office managing partner and practice area leader fit into a firm, our guide to law firm hierarchy explains the ladder.

Why did Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader combine?

The firms’ stated reason is client demand for “deep sector expertise and broad global reach”, in Zaldivar’s words. The practical fit is clearer when you look at what each side brought:

• Hogan Lovells brought regulatory, disputes, intellectual property, corporate and M&A work, with long-established offices in Washington, London and Germany.
• Cadwalader brought a finance-heavy practice. The December release said it had advised lenders on more than $1.4 trillion of fund finance commitments since 2018, alongside structured finance, securitisation, derivatives and capital relief trades.

Together, the firms pitched particular strength along the New York and London corridor, with Charlotte as a third finance centre, aimed at private capital and capital-intensive sectors such as energy, technology and infrastructure. The launch release named the “Future of Digitalization” and the “Future of Energy” as focus areas and promised continued investment in AI. Wesley Misson summed up the finance pitch as a firm “built to connect clients deploying capital with the funds and businesses that need it.”

Market pressure mattered too. The deal followed other large transatlantic combinations, including Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling in 2024 and Herbert Smith Freehills with Kramer Levin in 2025, which we covered when it completed. Dealmakers who want to track the new firm’s mandates can follow its record on DealDatabase’s Hogan Lovells Cadwalader profile.

What is Cadwalader’s history?

Cadwalader is one of the oldest law firms in the United States. According to Yale University, which holds the firm’s historical records, it was founded in New York City in 1792 and is the oldest continuously operating law firm in the city. George W. Wickersham, who later served as US Attorney General under President William Howard Taft, joined in 1883. Henry W. Taft, the President’s brother, joined in 1889, and the firm took the name Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft in 1914.

The firm describes itself as the oldest law firm on Wall Street. The April 2026 release says Cadwalader was the first Wall Street firm to open an office in Charlotte, 30 years earlier, and that the combined firm has one of the largest offices of any major law firm in that city. Hogan Lovells has its own long history: the firm says it has served clients in Washington for more than 120 years, in London for more than 125 years and in Germany for more than 135 years.

What changed for clients, partners and associates?

Conflicts and departures. The biggest early effect was on Cadwalader’s litigation practice. On 6 February 2026, Bloomberg Law reported that litigation leaders Nicholas Gravante and Phil Iovieno had resigned with three other litigators and a corporate partner after a conflicts review against Hogan Lovells’ client list. Cadwalader said it had expected some conflicts to be unavoidable and that “the interests of the clients come first.” Bloomberg Law also reported that 30 partners had left Cadwalader over nine months before Misson became co-managing partner in September 2025, and The Global Legal Post reported a 37-lawyer CLO and asset-backed lending team moving to Orrick in October 2025.

Clients. Existing Cadwalader finance clients gain access to a much larger regulatory, disputes and European bench. The litigation exits show the other side: where Cadwalader lawyers acted against Hogan Lovells clients, that work could not simply move into the combined firm. Bloomberg Law’s sources linked the Gravante and Iovieno departures to price-fixing litigation for meat buyers against companies that include Hogan clients. The firm’s launch release said clients would have “the full benefit of the new platform” from Day One.

Associates. We could not find a published combined associate pay scale. Hogan Lovells raised London newly qualified salaries from £140,000 to £145,000 from 1 May 2026, according to Legal Cheek, which also reported that Cadwalader lawyers are paid in line with New York scales and billable hours targets. US associates should expect pay to be measured against the market rates explained in our guide to the Cravath scale, but the firm has not published how it will align the two systems.

Frequently asked questions

When did Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader merge?

The combination took effect on 1 July 2026. It was announced on 18 December 2025, and partners at both firms approved it in April 2026, with the result announced on 15 April 2026.

How many lawyers does Hogan Lovells Cadwalader have?

The firm said it had more than 3,200 lawyers across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific when it launched on 1 July 2026. The December 2025 announcement cited about 3,100.

What is Hogan Lovells Cadwalader’s revenue?

The firms cited combined revenue of more than $3.6 billion based on 2024 results, which they said made the firm the fifth largest by revenue. The Global Legal Post reported a figure above $3.9 billion based on 2025 results.

Who is the CEO of Hogan Lovells Cadwalader?

Miguel Zaldivar, who was Hogan Lovells’ CEO, leads the combined firm. Cadwalader’s former co-managing partners Patrick Quinn and Wesley Misson hold global managing partner roles for client and practice integration and for finance.

Why is it called the largest law firm merger in history?

That is the firms’ own description, based on the combined revenue of the two legacy firms. It compares with Allen & Overy’s 2024 combination with Shearman & Sterling, which The Global Legal Post put at $3.5 billion.

Is Cadwalader the oldest law firm in the US?

It is among the oldest. Yale University describes it as the oldest continuously operating law firm in New York City, founded in 1792, and the firm describes itself as the oldest law firm on Wall Street.

This article is general information about a law firm combination, based on public statements and press reporting as of 31 October 2026. It is not legal, financial or career advice. Figures are as reported by the firms or the publications named, and may change as the firm publishes new results.

Featured image: Photo: Mark Hillary via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (adapted)