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Analysis Law firm ranking
Orrick wins out in legal reshuffle
by Shant Fabricatorian & Kathryn Gaw
Comparing our law firm rankings for the first quarter of 2026 with those from 2024 gives a clear picture of the damage done by staff departures. Meanwhile, Paul Hastings and Milbank stayed top
Our latest manager and arranger legal counsel rankings show the emerging effects of a series of major shake-ups in the structured finance legal industry during the past 18 months.
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe is one big winner, climbing the rankings in dramatic fashion. The firm’s swoop for Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft’s global CLO and asset-backed-lending team last year saw it recruit almost 40 lawyers. Compared to its position at the end of 2024, Orrick has risen eight places to rank second among arranger counsels globally, with a market share of just under 17%. Cadwalader was pushed down to third place.
David Quirolo, one of the partners in Orrick’s London office who moved to the firm from Cadwalader, said he was grateful to clients for their ongoing trust.
Smooth shift to a new home
“We are thrilled that our move to Orrick has been so seamless,” he said. “The CLO market continues to be robust and remains resilient, despite geopolitical headwinds. We are excited for 2026 as we continue to innovate, deploying CLO technology across private credit and other asset classes.”
While Cadwalader slipped one spot among arranger counsels in the US compared to its position at the end of 2024, it retained a podium spot with third place. However, in Europe, its position collapsed. The firm fell to eighth, claiming just 2.6% of deal volume, while Orrick took more than a quarter of the market.
In the European market, Cadwalader’s position collapsed
Cadwalader may be down, but it isn’t out. Last month, Wall Street’s oldest firm approved its proposed transatlantic tie-up with Hogan Lovells by partner vote, with the freshly-minted Hogan Lovells Cadwalader set to launch on 1 July. Earlier this year, Michael Gambro and Stuart Goldstein, Cadwalader’s capital markets practice co-chairs, said the merger will create the world’s largest and deepest structured finance practice. “There will be many opportunities to expand our efforts to help CLO clients,” they said in a written statement.
Orrick rose eight places on the global arranger table
Paul Hastings stayed top of the leader board among arranger counsels with a cosy 40.2% of total deal volume globally, according to Creditflux data. Milbank retained its leading position among manager counsels, accounting for 25.5% of total deal volume, ahead of second-placed Dechert with 22.6%.
“Our continued position as the number one global counsel to CLO managers is the result of a sustained commitment to excellence and deep partnership with our clients over many years,” said Sean Solis, structured credit partner and global practice group leader at Milbank.
While Milbank has increased its share of deal volume in Europe compared to 2024, so that it accounted for more than a third of European manager counsel activity in the first quarter of this year, our data shows it lost its leading position in the US to Dechert.
Sidley Austin is also on the rise
Sidley Austin has bounded up the law firm ladder. While its rise is not quite as eye-catching as Orrick’s, it now ranks fifth on both the global manager and arranger counsel tables.
This move has been underpinned by a dramatically improved performance in the US, where it has risen to fourth in the arranger counsel space, behind Cadwalader and ahead of Mayer Brown. Its performance in the arranger counsel tables has been similarly strong.
A&O Shearman is effectively out of the CLO game
As some rise, others fall. Cleary Gottleib, Chapman and Cutler, Linklaters and DLA Piper slipped out of our global top 10 arranger tables between the end of 2024 and the end of the last quarter. But the rankings confirm that the most significant casualty of the past 12 months has been A&O Shearman’s CLO practice. The firm is effectively out of the CLO game after members of its practice departed for other firms, most notably Latham & Watkins and Proskauer Rose. A spokesperson for A&O Shearman declined to comment.
Market participants say there are a variety of reasons for the extensive movement seen in the structured finance and CLO legal counsel marketplace over the past couple of years. These include the rapid growth of demand for structured credit and CLOs, particularly in private, bespoke financings that share common features with CLOs and asset-backed loans. Increased synergies between European and US markets have also created increased opportunities for firms.
