Weil Gotshal & Manges' co-managing partner, Jonathon Soler, is one of more than 120 private funds lawyers joining Gibson Dunn across the US and London, the firm has confirmed.
Gibson Dunn said on Thursday that 23 partners would join as part of the move, including Weil's private funds practice head, New York-based partner Andrew Chizzik, and London private funds group co-chiefs James Bromley and James Sargent. The group will join Gibson Dunn on 1 January.
GLP previously reported that the Los Angeles-founded firm was set to hire about 120 lawyers from Weil, as partners, associates and other staff scramble to secure roles ahead of its planned closure.
“This is the most sought-after cross-border funds team in the market, and their arrival is a defining moment for our practice,” Shukie Grossman, global chair of Gibson Dunn's investment funds practice, said. “Private funds sit at the heart of global private capital, and this group advises on some of the largest and structurally complex transactions in the industry."
Soler had been in line to take over as Weil's sole managing partner at the start of next year, at the same time fellow co-managing partner Ramona Nee was due to become its executive partner. She declined the role in August and has since joined Kirkland & Ellis at the helm of a 40-lawyer private equity M&A and debt finance team.
Weil's partnership voted to wind down operations on Tuesday, formalising the headline-grabbing collapse of the Wall Street firm known for high-stakes litigation and corporate work and handling some of the biggest bankruptcies in US history, including Enron and Lehman Brothers.
That followed it announcing late in October that it was preparing to vote on a recommendation to close amid a wave of partner departures and a failure to find a suitable merger partner. A committee made up of Weil general counsel Robert Carangelo, tax partner Paul Wessel and independent director Patricia Ferrari will oversee the dissolution.
Rivals have swooped to pick up talent from the beleaguered firm. This week Skadden has hired a trio of Weil private equity, sports and IP deals lawyers, with Latham & Watkins and Paul Weiss also adding partners.
Sidley Austin is also in talks to pick up around 200 lawyers and staff, according to numerous reports. The firm did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Alongside Soler and Chizzik, the Weil partners joining Gibson Dunn in the US include Sarah Borden, Brittany Burnham, Lana Castor, Menachem Danishefsky, Robert Frastai, David Greene, Cassie Kimmelman, Kristine Koren, Chris Scully, Becki Steinberg and David Wohl.
The London partners joining alongside Bromley and Sargent are Phil Baynes, Fiona Cumming, Aron Joy, Hannah Laurie, Nick Roxburgh, Marc Schubert, Sophie Smith and Jacquelyn Volpe.
The team brings capabilities across fund structuring, regulatory, tax and finance, Gibson Dunn said.
Grossman pointed to other recent hires into the firm's investment practice across New York, London, Paris and Dubai, saying that they, its existing bench and the incoming team from Weil "puts the firm in a category of its own."
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