Cahill Gordon Faces Acquisition Talk After Eight Finance Partners Leave

Cahill Gordon & Reindel may be acquired by another firm, according to David Lat, the former Above the Law editor who writes the Substack Original Jurisdiction. In a post dated November 11, 2026, Lat said multiple sources with contacts in the partnership had told him the New York firm faces significant challenges. He did not name the suitor. He described it as much larger and more stable than Cahill, though with significantly lower profits per equity partner. Lat said he contacted Cahill's media team and had not received a reply by the time he published.

Lat's post came as the Biglaw market was already focused on Weil, Gotshal & Manges, which is winding down after 95 years. Lat framed Cahill as a possible second case. Above the Law's Kathryn Rubino covered the post the same day and reported that Cahill had not responded to Lat's requests for comment.

Eight finance partners gone in 2026

Above the Law counts eight partner departures this year, all from the firm's finance practices. Lat notes that eight partners would be roughly 10 percent of a partnership of fewer than 80. The moves he lists are:

In March, leveraged finance partner Michael Makhotin left for DLA Piper.
In July, Peter Williams, who co-led the private credit practice, joined Paul Hastings.
In September, leveraged finance partners Brian Kelleher, Stephen Harper and Christopher Bevan went to Proskauer.
In October, leveraged finance partners Ted Lacey, Anthony Wolfe and Tristan Manley joined White & Case.

Lat notes that Paul Hastings has hired at least four partners from Cahill since 2023. He also calls the pattern a "partner run," a term Yale Law School professor John Morley uses in his study Why Law Firms Collapse.

The firm's financial picture

Cahill's 2025 numbers looked healthy on paper. Lat reports revenue of $502.5 million, up 8.4 percent, and profits per equity partner of $5.7 million, up 7.3 percent. He cites a September interview in which managing partner Herbert Washer told Bloomberg Law that the firm expected double-digit revenue growth in 2026. Above the Law attributes to Washer's Bloomberg Law interview the statement that the 2023 departures "woke us up to the realities of the legal market." Lat notes that those 2023 exits were followed by a diversification push, and that the firm's 2024 revenue grew 15 percent.

Skeptics and the Weil comparison

Lat contrasts Cahill with Weil. Weil's merger talks with Willkie Farr and Vinson & Elkins did not produce a deal, while Cahill, in Lat's view, "might have found a rescuer." Above the Law relayed the view of one of Lat's sources, given in a footnote to his post, who said Cahill's collapse looked inevitable but rejected the idea that other firms were next. That source said Cahill's model relies on a small number of large institutional relationships, such as Bank of America, and that departing partners can take a share of that work to rival firms. The source's conclusion: "Everyone needs to relax."

What this means for in-house counsel

For general counsel whose companies rely on Cahill for finance, capital markets or private credit work, the immediate question is continuity. Lat's post identifies the finance practices as the source of the departures, so deal teams and relationship partners may change on short notice. Legal departments with open matters or pending financings should ask for a written staffing plan and confirm who will remain responsible if a partner moves.

Engagement letters deserve a closer look. Review termination rights, conflict waiver language and any provisions that allow the firm to transfer or assign a matter. If a merger goes ahead, the acquiring firm may seek new consents. Knowing the terms in advance will speed that process.

Finally, track developments without treating the rumor as settled. Lat says he will update the story as he receives more information, and the suitor has not been named. Counsel who plan for several outcomes, including a merger and continued independence, will be better placed than those who wait for a formal announcement.