Private equity is moving into law firms

Bloomberg Law reports that private equity is moving aggressively into personal injury firms, offering lawyers a cut of the wealth those deals generate. At an invite-only conference at Holland & Knight's New York office last month, with Apollo, Fortress, and Stifel in the room, the message a lot of attorneys took away was simple: adapt or get left behind. One Houston firm leader put it bluntly, if you sit on the sidelines, you put your business at risk.

Beyond quick cash, these investors can back call centers and lead generation, and the skeptics worry about influence bleeding into client work. The actual moves this week were small-bore. Paul Hastings added a Boston securities litigator from Goodwin.