Founded in 1931, Weil spent most of a century as one of the most recognizable names in Biglaw. It brought in $2.1 billion in revenue last year. It built the modern Biglaw bankruptcy practice and steered Lehman Brothers, General Motors, and Enron through Chapter 11. And now it\u2019s the one being wound down, with Davis Polk bankruptcy lawyer Brian Resnick advising on the process<\/a>.<\/p>\n The collapse came fast. Weil was fielding merger rumors in September, insisting it was \u201cnot engaged in merger discussions with any firm.\u201d<\/a> A month later, it was negotiating one<\/a> with Willkie Farr, and then those talks died<\/a>. Days after that, the firm\u2019s incoming leader, Ramona Nee, said she wouldn\u2019t take the job<\/a>. By the end of October, partners were \u201cfrantically sending r\u00e9sum\u00e9s\u201d<\/a> to rivals, leadership was discussing a possible wind-down<\/a>, and at least one practice head was telling his associates to find new jobs<\/a>.<\/p>\n The obvious comparison is Dewey & LeBoeuf, which filed for bankruptcy in May 2012<\/a> in what was then the largest law firm collapse in U.S. history. The parallels are hard to miss: a steady stream of partner exits, a failed search for a merger partner, and an internal memo urging partners to seek \u201calternative opportunities,\u201d<\/a> which isn\u2019t far from a Weil practice head telling his associates to look for work elsewhere<\/a>. But Dewey ended in Chapter 11, and its former leaders ended up facing criminal charges<\/a>. There\u2019s also an irony in the cast. Mike Aiello, the corporate chair whose September exit to Cravath started the slide, rejoined Weil in 2007 from Dewey Ballantine. He left that firm during its merger troubles too.<\/p>\n In September, Weil sniffed that Aiello was leaving for \u201ca smaller platform,\u201d<\/a> and seven weeks later, now they\u2019re the ones left with no platform at all.<\/p>\n Earlier: <\/strong>Weil Practice Head Tells His Associates To Start Looking For Work Elsewhere<\/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 \n The post After 95 Years, Weil Gotshal Is Winding Down<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s official: Weil Gotshal & Manges is shutting down.<\/p>\n Weil\u2019s leaders told partners on Wednesday that the firm plans to wind down its operations, Bloomberg Law reports<\/a>, citing a source briefed on the decision. Earlier this week, as word spread that the firm had brought in restructuring counsel to weigh its options<\/a>, a Weil spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal, \u201cNo decision has been made to dissolve the firm.\u201d Now one has.<\/p>\n Founded in 1931, Weil spent most of a century as one of the most recognizable names in Biglaw. It brought in $2.1 billion in revenue last year. It built the modern Biglaw bankruptcy practice and steered Lehman Brothers, General Motors, and Enron through Chapter 11. And now it\u2019s the one being wound down, with Davis Polk bankruptcy lawyer Brian Resnick advising on the process<\/a>.<\/p>\n The collapse came fast. Weil was fielding merger rumors in September, insisting it was \u201cnot engaged in merger discussions with any firm.\u201d<\/a> A month later, it was negotiating one<\/a> with Willkie Farr, and then those talks died<\/a>. Days after that, the firm\u2019s incoming leader, Ramona Nee, said she wouldn\u2019t take the job<\/a>. By the end of October, partners were \u201cfrantically sending r\u00e9sum\u00e9s\u201d<\/a> to rivals, leadership was discussing a possible wind-down<\/a>, and at least one practice head was telling his associates to find new jobs<\/a>.<\/p>\n The obvious comparison is Dewey & LeBoeuf, which filed for bankruptcy in May 2012<\/a> in what was then the largest law firm collapse in U.S. history. The parallels are hard to miss: a steady stream of partner exits, a failed search for a merger partner, and an internal memo urging partners to seek \u201calternative opportunities,\u201d<\/a> which isn\u2019t far from a Weil practice head telling his associates to look for work elsewhere<\/a>. But Dewey ended in Chapter 11, and its former leaders ended up facing criminal charges<\/a>. There\u2019s also an irony in the cast. Mike Aiello, the corporate chair whose September exit to Cravath started the slide, rejoined Weil in 2007 from Dewey Ballantine. He left that firm during its merger troubles too.<\/p>\n In September, Weil sniffed that Aiello was leaving for \u201ca smaller platform,\u201d<\/a> and seven weeks later, now they\u2019re the ones left with no platform at all.<\/p>\n Earlier: <\/strong>Weil Practice Head Tells His Associates To Start Looking For Work Elsewhere<\/a> It\u2019s official: Weil Gotshal & Manges is shutting down. Weil\u2019s leaders told partners on Wednesday that the firm plans to wind down its operations, Bloomberg Law reports, citing a source briefed on the decision. Earlier this week, as word spread that the firm had brought in restructuring counsel to weigh its options, a Weil spokesperson […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":166317,"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-166371","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\/166371","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=166371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166371\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Weil Gotshal Is Now Discussing A Possible Wind-Down<\/a>
Weil Partners Are \u2018Frantically Sending R\u00e9sum\u00e9s\u2019 As Leadership Weighs Its Options<\/a>
Weil\u2019s Successor Walked Away, And Now The Firm Has A \u2018Run On The Bank\u2019 Problem<\/a>
Weil\u2019s Incoming Leader Won\u2019t Take The Job, And Might Take One At Simpson Thacher Instead<\/a>
Weil\u2019s Merger With Willkie Is Dead, But Its Partner Exodus Is Very Much Alive<\/a>
Weil Gotshal Is Reportedly Negotiating A Merger, About A Month After Saying It Wasn\u2019t In Merger Talks<\/a>
Cravath And Weil Are Just Trading Partners At This Point<\/a>
Weil\u2019s Revolving Door Now Spins In Both Directions<\/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>
Top Biglaw Firm Announces Its First Female Executive Partner In History<\/a>
Dewey Think This Former Biglaw Leader Is Sorry His Firm Crashed And Burned In A Historic Collapse?<\/a>
Holy Crap! Dewey Know Who Was Convicted Of Felony Charges?<\/a>
Was The Dewey Trial Fair?<\/a>
Partial Verdict Announced In Dewey & LeBoeuf Criminal Trial<\/a>
Dewey & LeBoeuf Criminal Trial Kicks Off With Jury Selection<\/a>
Dewey Know What Led To The Collapse, And What Lessons Can Be Learned?<\/a>
Boy, Dewey Have A Reading List For You<\/a>
Dewey File For Bankruptcy? Yes \u2014 It\u2019s About Time<\/a>
Dewey Have Plans To File For Bankruptcy? Sources Say Yes<\/a>
Dewey Have Any Shot Of Surviving? Internal Memo Urges Partners To Seek \u2018Alternative Opportunities\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\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-1541982401-300x200.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/figure>\n
Weil Gotshal Is Now Discussing A Possible Wind-Down<\/a>
Weil Partners Are \u2018Frantically Sending R\u00e9sum\u00e9s\u2019 As Leadership Weighs Its Options<\/a>
Weil\u2019s Successor Walked Away, And Now The Firm Has A \u2018Run On The Bank\u2019 Problem<\/a>
Weil\u2019s Incoming Leader Won\u2019t Take The Job, And Might Take One At Simpson Thacher Instead<\/a>
Weil\u2019s Merger With Willkie Is Dead, But Its Partner Exodus Is Very Much Alive<\/a>
Weil Gotshal Is Reportedly Negotiating A Merger, About A Month After Saying It Wasn\u2019t In Merger Talks<\/a>
Cravath And Weil Are Just Trading Partners At This Point<\/a>
Weil\u2019s Revolving Door Now Spins In Both Directions<\/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>
Top Biglaw Firm Announces Its First Female Executive Partner In History<\/a>
Dewey Think This Former Biglaw Leader Is Sorry His Firm Crashed And Burned In A Historic Collapse?<\/a>
Holy Crap! Dewey Know Who Was Convicted Of Felony Charges?<\/a>
Was The Dewey Trial Fair?<\/a>
Partial Verdict Announced In Dewey & LeBoeuf Criminal Trial<\/a>
Dewey & LeBoeuf Criminal Trial Kicks Off With Jury Selection<\/a>
Dewey Know What Led To The Collapse, And What Lessons Can Be Learned?<\/a>
Boy, Dewey Have A Reading List For You<\/a>
Dewey File For Bankruptcy? Yes \u2014 It\u2019s About Time<\/a>
Dewey Have Plans To File For Bankruptcy? Sources Say Yes<\/a>
Dewey Have Any Shot Of Surviving? Internal Memo Urges Partners To Seek \u2018Alternative Opportunities\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":"