McDermott’s Power Play: A Blueprint for Big Law Dominance

NEW YORK, NY – July 13, 2026

In the high-stakes world of Big Law, where talent is currency and market share is the kingdom, McDermott Will & Schulte just made a definitive move. The firm announced it has hired Robert Rizzo, a heavy-hitting private equity dealmaker from rival Weil, Gotshal & Manges, to serve as Global Co-Head of its Private Equity Group. On the surface, it’s another high-profile lateral move in an industry famous for them. But peel back the layers, and this isn’t just a new name on the letterhead. It’s the latest, and perhaps most telling, move in a meticulously executed, decade-long campaign to build a legal powerhouse in the heart of global finance.

This strategic acquisition is less about filling a seat and more about planting a flag. It signals the culmination of a strategy that has combined aggressive expansion, a landmark merger, and colossal real estate investments. By bringing in a lawyer of Rizzo's caliber, McDermott is making an unambiguous statement about its ambition: to compete at the very top of the lucrative private equity world.

The War for Rainmakers

To understand the significance of Rizzo’s move, one must first appreciate the landscape. The market for elite legal talent in private equity has never been more ferocious. Firms are not just hiring lawyers; they are acquiring business generators, or “rainmakers,” who bring with them deep client relationships and a portable book of business worth millions. Rizzo, with over 22 years of experience advising top-tier sponsors like EQT Partners and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, is the archetype of such a prize. His career, which includes partner roles at Willkie Farr & Gallagher and Weil, has placed him at the center of some of the most consequential deals of the last two decades, spanning leveraged buyouts, complex carve-outs, and cross-border M&A.

McDermott’s leadership is candid about its intentions. "Private equity is one of our most important power alleys—it's where we're investing, leading and winning, and Rob is a testament to our approach," said Ira Coleman, the firm’s Chair. His comment underscores a calculated strategy. In a market where PE sponsors hold record levels of uninvested capital, or “dry powder,” and face a challenging exit environment, the demand for sophisticated, commercially-minded legal counsel is soaring. Sponsors need advisors who can navigate heightened regulatory scrutiny from the SEC and provide practical, solutions-oriented guidance. As Harris Siskind, Global Head of the Transactions Practice Group, noted, Rizzo provides the “seniority to bring it all together on the deals that matter most.”

However, such high-stakes hires are not without risk. Industry analysis suggests that a significant percentage of lateral partners fail to integrate or bring their expected book of business, making a successful transition a critical challenge. McDermott appears confident, with Coleman highlighting Rizzo as a “natural fit for our culture: collaborative, ambitious, and people-first.”

A Blueprint for Unprecedented Growth

Rizzo’s arrival is not an isolated event but the capstone on a period of explosive growth. The firm’s claim of expanding its New York footprint “roughly tenfold over the past decade” is substantiated by its recent history. The most transformative event was the 2025 merger of McDermott Will & Emery and Schulte Roth & Zabel. This combination was a masterstroke, creating a legal behemoth with over 1,750 lawyers and projected revenues of approximately $3 billion, vaulting the newly christened McDermott Will & Schulte into the top 15 of U.S. law firms by revenue.

More critically for its New York ambitions, the merger instantly made the combined entity the ninth-largest law firm in the city by headcount, with more than 540 lawyers on the ground. It strategically fused McDermott's strengths in healthcare and tax with Schulte's elite reputation in funds and mid-market private equity. This created a full-service platform perfectly tuned to the needs of the financial industry. The firm’s aggressive expansion is a clear blueprint for how to scale rapidly and deliberately in the world's most competitive legal market.

A Fortress in Midtown

Parallel to its talent acquisition and corporate consolidation, McDermott has been investing heavily in its physical infrastructure, creating what it calls a “connected hub at the center of the global private capital ecosystem.” This is not mere marketing jargon. The firm is building a massive, two-building campus in Midtown Manhattan, linking its existing space in the prestigious One Vanderbilt tower with a new 150,000-square-foot lease at 343 Madison Avenue, a $2 billion trophy tower currently under construction.

Set for occupancy in 2029, the new space at 343 Madison is designed for the future of work, featuring over 330 offices, state-of-the-art conference facilities, and client-focused amenities like a double-height club with panoramic city views. The building itself is a model of sustainability, targeting top-tier LEED Platinum and WELL Core certifications. Simultaneously, the firm is adding 175 new offices at One Vanderbilt. This dual-location campus, connected via Grand Central Terminal, is a monumental investment in a post-pandemic world, a bet that a centralized, high-end physical presence remains critical for attracting premier talent and serving elite clients.

This massive real estate play does more than just accommodate growth; it projects power and permanence. It provides the physical infrastructure to support the firm's intellectual capital, creating an environment designed to facilitate the kind of collaboration and integrated service that private equity clients now demand. As Rizzo himself stated upon joining, "New York is the center of gravity for financial markets, full stop, and we have the infrastructure, the team, the ambition and the drive to compete at the very top."