The Next Winners in PE’s Big 401(k) Push: Million-Dollar Lawyers

Big Law made one fortune helping private equity lure large investors. Now it’s minting another helping the industry attract small ones.

Law firms that have long advised private equity giants on mergers and acquisitions — and often bill more than $1,000 an hour for their services — are joining the industry’s latest treasure hunt: prying open America’s 401(k)s.

The lawyers’ lucrative, if unglamorous, task: setting up funds that promise to bring private equity’s rarefied style of investing to everyday people, even as some big institutions pull back from these investments.

For the financial-industrial complex — bankers, asset managers, lawyers, financial ...