IPO Bust Sends Big Law Work Plummeting 95% From Record Year

There’s some good news for capital markets lawyers: 2022 is over.

It was a dismal 12 months for US initial public offerings, which raised just more than $18 billion last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s down more than 95% from the record $275 billion raised in 2021, propelled by a boom in blank-check companies that have since fallen off the map.

Some Big Law practitioners are cautiously optimistic that the market will thaw this year, but nobody’s expecting a return to the boom times. Companies considering a public offering are still grappling with an unpredictable market as ...