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Tom helps clients with Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands law, focusing on investment funds (including hedge funds, venture capital funds and private equity funds).

Raya Alkhatib is a highly accomplished Corporate Partner and the Head of the Corporate and M&A Practice at Bird & Bird’s Riyadh office. She offers sophisticated, market-leading counsel on a comprehensive range of corporate matters for both international and local clients.

Lateral hiring is at record levels. Business cases are more rigorous than they have ever been, and the investment in finding and landing senior talent has never been higher. And yet integration outcomes remain stubbornly inconsistent. The hire is getting more sophisticated but what happens next often is not.

As we move further into 2026, fresh from recent travels and conversations, it’s increasingly clear that the market is shifting even faster than many expected.

Offshore law firms have spent the past two decades oscillating between three models