Weil Gotshal Hires Restructuring Counsel, Becomes Its Own Worst Client

Weil, Gotshal & Manges is winding down. The firm that walked Lehman Brothers, General Motors and Enron through Chapter 11 is now the case study.

Here is the best part. Weil hired someone else's restructuring lawyers. Davis Polk's Brian Resnick is advising on the process. Weil wrote the playbook on this, then paid a competitor to read it aloud.

The timeline is a masterpiece of speed. In September, Weil insisted it was "not engaged in merger discussions with any firm." A month later it was negotiating with Willkie Farr & Gallagher. Then those talks died. Days later, incoming leader Ramona Nee said she wouldn't take the job. Then came the wind-down. Less than a week from failed merger to funeral.

Weil's statement promised an "orderly wind-down." Orderly. Roughly 40 partners had already left in 2026, by one count. The order was every man for himself.

The firm also spent years telling clients how to survive collapse. Its own revenue grew under 3 percent in 2025 while the 50 largest firms grew more than 13 percent. Apparently nobody billed an hour to read that.

Retail traders, this is your sign. You think your portfolio is a disaster? Weil lost $2.1 billion in annual revenue and a century of goodwill in one autumn. You lost money on a ticker you pronounced wrong.

Technical analysis would call this a clean breakdown below support. Support being the partners. They are gone.

Partners vote in the coming days. It will be the first unanimous decision at Weil in 95 years, and they still won't bill for it.

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