Lawyer turned writer, speaker, podcaster: Original Jurisdiction, https://teapawt.org/t.co/hBEAtRCUxV. Columnist, Bloomberg Law. Founding editor, AboveTheLaw/@ATLblog.
New Jersey, USA
Joined April 2008
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5 Takeaways From Weil Gotshal's Collapse
Weil, you were sleeping: the 95-year-old firm failed to keep up with the prodigious profitability growth of its peers, setting the stage for its downfall.
LINK: bit.ly/4eFBbFH
Great insights from @jaesunum on which firms are most likely to pick up which partner groups and practices from Weil Gotshal.👇
David Lat retweeted
🪡 3a
First up is the fabulous @DavidLat - this Original Jurisdiction post sets really good baseline + context (also just the best Substack IMO)
teapawt.org/DavidLat/status/211587…
5 Takeaways From Weil Gotshal's Collapse
Weil, you were sleeping: the 95-year-old firm failed to keep up with the prodigious profitability growth of its peers, setting the stage for its downfall.
LINK: bit.ly/4eFBbFH
In "Judicial Notice (11.01.26): Who Killed Weil Gotshal?":
- laying the blame for Weil’s woes
- a federal judge fed up with DOJ
- a 9th Circuit case with lots of leading litigators
- a $17B deal involving a name you know
LINK: bit.ly/3UvHLrC
But don't clients want lawyers who think like businesspeople???
Amidst the Weil grimness, here's a more fun story
This is from a summer or two before I was there
Weil took its summers to a big Broadway musical every summer. I saw In the Heights during mine (wow - was excellent). I think you could even bring a date
A few summers had the idea to sell their tickets. They figured nobody would notice they weren't at the show, and they could just meet up with everyone afterwards and pretend they'd been there
The problem: Weil bought a big block of seats. So when a couple of random people showed up in the middle of all the Weil lawyers, the (high quality!) recruiting team noticed. And pretty quickly figured out whose tickets got scalped
Understandably, those summers didn't get offers
Weird knock-on effect: when I was going through recruiting, a rip on summering at Weil at my law school was that not all of their summers had gotten offers the year before. This was apparently why!
Was it Colonel Mustard in the messenger center with a stapler?
Was it Miss Scarlet in the lactation room with a binder?
Was it Professor Plum in the conference room with a legal pad?
Who killed Weil Gotshal?
[Excerpt from my next edition of Judicial Notice. This will lead into a serious discussion of the finger-pointing re: Weil's demise.]
2/ I updated my Weil post to add links to three great articles:
(a) @WSJ piece by @erinmulvaney @CaraRLombardo @coryramey
(b) @FT piece by @kayewiggins @mroliverbarnes @sindap @ameliajpollard
(c) @Bloomberg @opinion piece by @Matt_Levine
LINK (updates at end): bit.ly/4eFBbFH
David Lat retweeted
Love this interview. There is so much going on in the world of law firms right now. Very exciting (and mildly terrifying) times. Expect to learn a lot more about MSOs very soon if you follow the legal space.
Demystifying The MSO: Trisha Rich
A leading MSO lawyer, legal ethicist, and longtime partner at @Holland_Knight, Rich walks us through how MSOs work, why they’re booming, and what might come next.
LINK: bit.ly/4yIdbcd
David Lat retweeted
“If it can happen to Weil, it can happen to anyone.”
5 Takeaways From Weil Gotshal's Collapse
Weil, you were sleeping: the 95-year-old firm failed to keep up with the prodigious profitability growth of its peers, setting the stage for its downfall.
LINK: bit.ly/4eFBbFH
A key point made by @ArloDevlinBrown in his piece linked below:
“Largely due to tax rules, the revenue a law firm brings in is distributed to its lawyer-owners almost as soon as it comes in. The enterprise itself holds little ongoing value for lawyer-owners to get ‘later’ if only they would stay.”
David Lat retweeted
Been waiting for this, Weil watchers
5 Takeaways From Weil Gotshal's Collapse
Weil, you were sleeping: the 95-year-old firm failed to keep up with the prodigious profitability growth of its peers, setting the stage for its downfall.
LINK: bit.ly/4eFBbFH
David Lat retweeted
Great writeup of the Weil saga. Highly recommend.
5 Takeaways From Weil Gotshal's Collapse
Weil, you were sleeping: the 95-year-old firm failed to keep up with the prodigious profitability growth of its peers, setting the stage for its downfall.
LINK: bit.ly/4eFBbFH
Thoughts from the indispensable @matt_levine on Weil Gotshal and the economics of Biglaw in 2026.
This is not the most important newsletter in America, but this is precisely why it matters to us. bloomberg.com/opinion/newsle…
1/ A shocking turn of events at Weil Gotshal—especially since, as a partner who just got out of the meeting told me, the firm has no debt, a key factor in past Biglaw bankruptcies and dissolutions.
Breaking: Weil Gotshal & Manges plans to wind down its operations, its leaders told partners on Wednesday, according to a source briefed on the decision. news.bloomberglaw.com/busine…
5/ I'll be up late working on my Weil post for tomorrow for Original Jurisdiction.
In the meantime, for background on how Weil got to this point, check out last weekend's Judicial Notice. Scroll down to "Law Firm of the Week" (paywall removed, at least for now):
LINK: bit.ly/4z0NFPP
6/ Here's my post, "5 Takeaways From Weil Gotshal's Collapse."
Weil, you were sleeping: the 95-year-old firm failed to keep up with the prodigious profitability growth of its peers, setting the stage for its downfall.
LINK: bit.ly/4eFBbFH
Of course! I've been in and around Biglaw for so long that I remember ALL of them—e.g., Stroock, Dewey, Howrey, Heller, Thelen, Thacher Proffitt, Coudert Brothers, Brobeck....
I think the only one I wasn't around for was Finley Kumble.
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"Weil, you were sleeping: the 95-year-old firm failed to keep up with the prodigious profitability growth of its peers, setting the stage for its downfall."
(The subtitle of the post I'll be publishing tmrw on Original Jurisdiction—sharing now to call "dibs" on "Weil you were sleeping.")
davidlat.substack.com/
