By John Bowie |
The law firm that steered Lehman Brothers, General Motors and Enron through their darkest days is now planning its own.
Weil, Gotshal & Manges told partners on Wednesday that its management committee has recommended an orderly wind-down of the firm. Partners are expected to vote within days.
“Following a careful review of strategic alternatives, the Firm’s Management Committee has recommended to the partnership that the Firm pursue an orderly wind-down,” Weil said.
The firm said it will keep serving clients during the wind-down over the coming months.
The sad fact is that one of New York’s best-known law firms, founded in 1931, with nearly $2.1 billion in revenue last year and around 1,200 lawyers, is preparing to close.
How It Unravelled
The partner exits did not start this autumn. By some count, around 40 Weil partners had left in 2026 before this week, and Bloomberg Law reports that at least seven management committee members have left, or were reported to be leaving, since late 2024.
What happened this autumn was the collapse.
In September, corporate chair Michael Aiello (right) announced he was leaving for Cravath. Aiello ran a department of roughly 600 lawyers and sat on the management committee.
He took five partners with him, including M&A co-head Matthew Gilroy.
Weil’s public response was to say Aiello’s team was leaving “for a smaller platform” (which was Cravaths).
The exits then kept coming and coming fast. There were –
- Private equity partner Christopher Machera went to Paul Weiss.
- London co-managing partner David Avery-Gee and corporate partner Sarah Flaherty went to Sullivan & Cromwell.
- Former corporate co-managing partner Michael Hickey is expected to follow them there.
- Litigators Drew Tulumello and Chantale Fiebig are bound for Davis Polk.
- Management committee member Caroline Zalka is heading to Paul Weiss.
- Corporate co-managing partner Lyuba Goltser is going to Sidley.
The Merger That Wasn’t
In September, Weil said it was “not engaged in merger discussions with any firm.” By 19 October, Bloomberg Law was reporting that the firm was negotiating a memorandum of understanding with an unnamed suitor.
The suitor was Willkie Farr & Gallagher in a potential combination that would have created a firm with more than $4 billion in revenue. The talks collapsed late last week.
The Leadership Hole
Then the succession plan fell apart. Ramona Nee, (left) named in March to replace long-serving executive partner Barry Wolf from January, and then turned down the job. Semafor reported that she was in talks with Simpson Thacher. Weil has not commented.
A firm losing partners, its merger and its next leader in the same month has very few options left.
The Restructuring Lawyers
Weil’s leaders reportedly spent all of Sunday trying to stabilise the firm. By Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal was reporting that Weil had brought in Davis Polk bankruptcy partner Brian Resnick.
Davis Polk confirmed that Resnick and its chair, Neil Barr, are advising Weil. Barr had already advised on the failed merger.
Weil helped write the modern playbook for corporate restructuring. It is now hiring someone else’s restructuring lawyers. For good measure, the firm advising Weil on its future is also hiring two of its litigators.
From failed merger to wind-down recommendation took less than a week.
The warning signs for Weil’s demise were in the numbers. In June, Bloomberg Law reported that Weil grew revenue at half the annualised rate of its competitors between 2008 and 2025. In 2025, Weil’s revenue rose less than 3 per cent. The 50 largest firms grew more than 13 per cent.
Weil was still a $2 billion firm. But when competitors are growing four times faster and offering guaranteed pay to rainmakers, a $2 billion firm can find out very quickly how much its partners believe in it.
What Happens Now
The wind-down still needs partner approval. An adviser to Weil told Bloomberg Law the firm believes it can wind down solvently, which would make this a dissolution rather than a bankruptcy.
Bankruptcy has not been ruled out, however. Some commentators have noted that a Chapter 7 filing could let Weil walk away from expensive office leases. Yale’s John Morley points out the awkward fact that partner pay can be clawed back in a bankruptcy.
For Weil’s 1,200 lawyers and its staff, the immediate question is where they go next. Recruiters are already reporting a flood of Weil résumés, and rival firms are putting other lateral searches on hold to deal with them.
The Dewey Case
Dewey & LeBoeuf collapsed under debt, while Bingham McCutchen ran out of road. Weil’s case is different and, for BigLaw, more worrying. It was profitable, prestigious and but, its partners simply concluded that their futures were better elsewhere, and they left fast enough to make that conclusion come true.
Ninety-five years of reputation lasted about five weeks once the confidence went.
