Weil Gotshal & Manges partners have approved a wind-down plan and appointed a three-member committee to manage the dissolution of the firm.
Weil general counsel Robert Carangelo, tax partner Paul Wessel and independent director Patricia Ferrari will sit on the committee, with Weil executive partner and chair Barry Wolf serving as a special consultant to the committee until at least the end of the year, Bloomberg reported. The approval was voted through by 97% of Weil’s partnership on Tuesday, Bloomberg added.
The top 30 US firm, which employs around 1,200 lawyers, announced in October that it was preparing to vote on a recommendation to close the firm following a wave of partner departures and a failure to find a suitable merger partner. The firm’s rapid collapse comes despite generating more than $2bn in revenue last year.
A number of Weil’s lawyers had already made plans to jump ship prior to the partner vote. Last week, it emerged Gibson Dunn was set to hire up to 120 fund lawyers from Weil, including more than 20 partners. Among them are Weil’s private funds practice head Andrew Chizzik in New York and London private funds group co-chiefs James Bromley and James Sargent.
Weil’s co-managing partner Ramona Nee – who was set to become Weil’s next executive partner before informing the management committee last month that she would not be taking up the role – is departing with a team of 40 private equity M&A and debt finance lawyers to Kirkland & Ellis.
Sidley Austin and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett are also in talks to add partners and teams.
Dozens more partners have left Weil in recent months, among them Michael Aiello, the former chair of the firm’s corporate department, who joined Cravath Swaine & Moore in September alongside five other M&A partners.
Tuesday’s partner vote also appointed co-chief restructuring officers: James Mesterharm, global co-head of AlixPartners’ turnaround and restructuring services practice, and Ben Schrag, chief strategy officer of C Street Advisory Group, Bloomberg reported.
Davis Polk & Wardwell is also advising Weil on the process. The firm intends to pursue an out-of-court wind-down rather than enter bankruptcy proceedings, provided it can meet its financial obligations.
The Financial Times reported last week that a group of around 10 former Weil partners was working with Foley & Lardner litigator Peter Wang, pointing to potential disputes over payouts and management decisions.
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