Recall that barely a month ago Weil was very clear on this point. \u201cWeil is not engaged in merger discussions with any firm,\u201d a spokesperson said way back in September when the merger rumors started swirling<\/a>. The spokesperson added that Weil, like every leading firm, is always looking for ways to strengthen its \u201cplatform.\u201d<\/p>\n But let\u2019s be so for real, nobody who has been following along is surprised. Weil has lost more than 25 partners this year<\/a>. Corporate chair Michael Aiello took five M&A partners to Cravath, a move Weil described as a jump to \u201ca smaller platform.\u201d<\/a> (And when Aiello left, Weil insiders lined up to tell reporters<\/a> that his exit was a great opportunity to let Weil be Weil.) Private equity co-head Chris Machera went to Paul Weiss and brought a handful of colleagues. Simpson Thacher hired away a string of private funds partners<\/a>. London M&A leader David Avery-Gee and corporate partner Sarah Flaherty went to Sullivan & Cromwell, and London finance head Tom Richards is on his way to Simpson Thacher.<\/p>\n The departures are still coming. Michael Hickey, Weil\u2019s former corporate department co-managing partner, is expected to land at Sullivan & Cromwell, and Bloomberg reports that other practice group leaders have been talking to rivals too.<\/p>\n To be fair, Weil is also in the lateral hiring game, notably bringing private equity head Peter Feist back from Cravath<\/a>, and it rehired Debra Sinclair a decade after she left for Willkie Farr & Gallagher. But a merger may be the faster option.<\/p>\n When Weil publicly said it wasn\u2019t in merger talks, we said we\u2019d see how long that stayed true\u2026 which turned out to be about a month.<\/p>\n Earlier<\/strong>: Cravath And Weil Are Just Trading Partners At This Point<\/a> Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of\u00a0The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of\u00a0Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email\u00a0her<\/a>\u00a0with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The post Weil Gotshal Is Reportedly Negotiating A Merger, About A Month After Saying It Wasn\u2019t In Merger Talks<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n For about as long as anyone in Biglaw can remember, Weil Gotshal & Manges has had an unofficial nickname: \u201cWe\u2019ll Get Ya & Mangle Ya.\u201d But it may be time to update the the joke to \u201cWe\u2019ll Get You and Merge With You.\u201d<\/p>\n Weil is negotiating a merger. Bloomberg Law reported<\/a> Monday that firm leadership has told certain practice group chiefs that Weil is working out a memorandum of understanding with another firm, which hasn\u2019t been named, according to two people familiar with the situation. An announcement could come as soon as this week, though the sources cautioned that the talks could still fall through. Weil did not immediately respond to Bloomberg Law\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n Recall that barely a month ago Weil was very clear on this point. \u201cWeil is not engaged in merger discussions with any firm,\u201d a spokesperson said way back in September when the merger rumors started swirling<\/a>. The spokesperson added that Weil, like every leading firm, is always looking for ways to strengthen its \u201cplatform.\u201d<\/p>\n But let\u2019s be so for real, nobody who has been following along is surprised. Weil has lost more than 25 partners this year<\/a>. Corporate chair Michael Aiello took five M&A partners to Cravath, a move Weil described as a jump to \u201ca smaller platform.\u201d<\/a> (And when Aiello left, Weil insiders lined up to tell reporters<\/a> that his exit was a great opportunity to let Weil be Weil.) Private equity co-head Chris Machera went to Paul Weiss and brought a handful of colleagues. Simpson Thacher hired away a string of private funds partners<\/a>. London M&A leader David Avery-Gee and corporate partner Sarah Flaherty went to Sullivan & Cromwell, and London finance head Tom Richards is on his way to Simpson Thacher.<\/p>\n The departures are still coming. Michael Hickey, Weil\u2019s former corporate department co-managing partner, is expected to land at Sullivan & Cromwell, and Bloomberg reports that other practice group leaders have been talking to rivals too.<\/p>\n To be fair, Weil is also in the lateral hiring game, notably bringing private equity head Peter Feist back from Cravath<\/a>, and it rehired Debra Sinclair a decade after she left for Willkie Farr & Gallagher. But a merger may be the faster option.<\/p>\n When Weil publicly said it wasn\u2019t in merger talks, we said we\u2019d see how long that stayed true\u2026 which turned out to be about a month.<\/p>\n Earlier<\/strong>: Cravath And Weil Are Just Trading Partners At This Point<\/a> For about as long as anyone in Biglaw can remember, Weil Gotshal & Manges has had an unofficial nickname: \u201cWe\u2019ll Get Ya & Mangle Ya.\u201d But it may be time to update the the joke to \u201cWe\u2019ll Get You and Merge With You.\u201d Weil is negotiating a merger. Bloomberg Law reported Monday that firm leadership […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":165324,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-165360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165360"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165360\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/165324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Weil\u2019s Revolving Door Now Spins In Both Directions<\/a>
Weil Get You And\u2026 Then Maybe You\u2019ll Go To Cravath<\/a>
Paul, Weiss Is The Latest Firm To Shop At Weil \u2014 See Also<\/a>
Weil Seeks To Strengthen Its \u2018Platform\u2019 As Merger Rumors Swirl<\/a>
Weil Is Relieved To Lose Its Biggest Rainmaker. Cravath Is Thrilled To Get His \u2018Values.\u2019<\/a>
The Cravath Shade Wasn\u2019t A One-Off: Weil Insiders Line Up To Say Good Riddance<\/a>
Weil\u2019s Corporate Chair Decamps For Cravath, Which Weil Would Like You To Know Is \u2018A Smaller Platform\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/06\/IMG_5243-1-scaled-e1623338814705-620x568.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/01\/handshake-money-merger-GettyImages-157281552-300x200.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/figure>\n
Weil\u2019s Revolving Door Now Spins In Both Directions<\/a>
Weil Get You And\u2026 Then Maybe You\u2019ll Go To Cravath<\/a>
Paul, Weiss Is The Latest Firm To Shop At Weil \u2014 See Also<\/a>
Weil Seeks To Strengthen Its \u2018Platform\u2019 As Merger Rumors Swirl<\/a>
Weil Is Relieved To Lose Its Biggest Rainmaker. Cravath Is Thrilled To Get His \u2018Values.\u2019<\/a>
The Cravath Shade Wasn\u2019t A One-Off: Weil Insiders Line Up To Say Good Riddance<\/a>
Weil\u2019s Corporate Chair Decamps For Cravath, Which Weil Would Like You To Know Is \u2018A Smaller Platform\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n
\nKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of\u00a0The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of\u00a0Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email\u00a0her<\/a>\u00a0with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"