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Briefing Notes
M&A
Castlelake makes third unsolicited offer to acquire EasyJet at £4.7bn, going public after board shows 'unwillingness to engage'
Going public on a non-binding offer is a pressure tactic — it forces a listed board to justify rejection to its own shareholders.
Energy & Tech
Strait of Hormuz shipping slows sharply as Iran re-closes waterway, citing US and Israeli violations of the interim peace deal
Every Hormuz closure triggers force majeure analysis across dozens of live energy supply contracts — that is immediate, billable work for energy practices.
Disputes
China retaliates against US defence sanctions by blocking dual-use exports to ten named American military companies, escalating trade and compliance disputes
China's third-country transfer ban puts UK supply chain intermediaries directly in the crossfire of US-China tech sanctions — that is live compliance work now.
Capital Markets
Ten years after Brexit, a Reuters analysis finds London's financial industry has broadly recovered but faces structural constraints on further growth
Lost passporting rights still force dual-authorisation structures on every UK firm accessing EU capital markets — that complexity is permanent client work.
AI & Law
BARBRI Acquires Legal AI Startup Lega to Scale Hands-On AI Fluency Training Across Law Schools and Firms
AI fluency is becoming a baseline qualification, not a differentiator.
International
Chinese law firms are entering a new expansion cycle, opening offices across second-tier domestic cities and in Southeast Asia, Europe and Japan as cross-border compliance demand surges
Chinese firm internationalisation compresses the price gap on Asian outbound M&A — London firms must compete on English law depth, not just geography.
Banking & Finance
Legal AI ROI remains unmeasured at 83% of in-house teams despite unanimous plans to raise AI budgets, Axiom's 2026 report finds
Private credit and leveraged lending remain the dominant deal-flow engines for Banking & Finance trainees in 2026.