A 40-strong Weil funds team is set to join Gibson Dunn in London as partners, associates and other staff across the firm scramble to secure roles ahead of the New York firm’s planned closure.
Gibson Dunn’s recruitment of the highly regarded team, which is led by James Bromley and James Sargent, is yet to be confirmed. However, a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed the expected arrival of the team, which includes eight partners, at Gibson Dunn.
The team would represent a sizeable chunk of Weil’s London office – the firm’s second-largest – which employs 221 lawyers alongside other staff. Other sizeable offices, aside from its New York headquarters, include Washington, DC (89), Paris (82), Redwood City (46) and Munich (43). (See table below.)
As of today, according to publicly available data tracked by Pirical, the firm houses 1,164 lawyers, including 314 partners, working out of 18 offices.
On Wednesday, the firm said the partnership would vote on a recommendation by the management committee to pursue “an orderly wind-down” of its operations.
Associates and staff have been told they will continue receiving salary and benefits for 90 days, according to Bloomberg Law. Employees who remain with the firm until the relevant payment dates will also be eligible for year-end bonuses.
Weil has appointed restructuring consultancy AlixPartners to help manage its planned closure, alongside lawyers from Davis Polk, according to Reuters. The firm intends to pursue an orderly, out-of-court wind-down rather than enter bankruptcy proceedings, provided it can meet its financial obligations.
Meanwhile, the Financial Times reported today that Ramona Nee, who had been due to succeed Barry Wolf as Weil's leader, is in talks to join Kirkland & Ellis alongside six other partners specialising in M&A, debt finance and executive compensation.
In London, the City of London Law Society (CLLS) is ready to co-ordinate efforts to find homes for the firm’s lawyers and other staff, who include more than 20 trainees.
Chief executive Patrick McCann told GLP: “Our primary concern is everyone at Weil’s office, particularly the solicitor apprentices, trainee solicitors and other junior lawyers here in London, who will understandably be anxious about what these latest developments mean for their careers.
“As we have demonstrated when others have faced difficulties in the past, the CLLS is steadfast in its support to City law firms and their people, and will look to provide guidance however it can when the need arises.”
The firm’s impending demise has unfolded at breakneck speed, seemingly triggered by a series of high-profile defections by leading partners since the summer, including that of former private equity co-head, Chris Machera, who joined Paul Weiss alongside three other partners and Michael Aiello, one of the firm's best-known US corporate dealmakers, who joined Cravath Swaine & Moore with five other partners.
In all, more than two dozen partners have decamped from Weil in the US and London in recent months, with a raft of further departures hitting the headlines in recent days.
In a commentary for GLP, Scott Gibson, a director at London-based legal recruitment consultancy Edwards Gibson, argues that the rise of highly paid private capital rainmakers with portable client relationships has undermined partnership cohesion, leaving even highly profitable firms vulnerable to a sudden exodus of partners.
He concludes: “The lesson from Weil is that if it can happen there, it can happen anywhere and, sooner or later, a similar firm will probably suffer the same fate. Live by the lateral, die by the lateral.”
| New York City | 506 | Munich | 43 |
| London | 221 | Boston | 41 |
| Washington, DC | 89 | Dallas | 38 |
| Paris | 82 | Los Angeles | 24 |
| Redwood City | 46 | Brussels | 22 |
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