Weil Gotshal Hires Davis Polk Advisers as 6 Partners Exit and Merger Talks Fail
Updated
Updated · Reuters · Oct 27
Weil Gotshal Hires Davis Polk Advisers as 6 Partners Exit and Merger Talks Fail
3 articles · Updated · Reuters · Oct 27
Summary
Davis Polk restructuring partner Brian Resnick and managing partner Neil Barr are advising Weil Gotshal on its options after the New York firm’s merger talks with Willkie Farr & Gallagher collapsed.
Mounting defections drove the move: Michael Aiello and five other M&A partners are leaving for Cravath, while other senior lawyers have joined Simpson Thacher, Paul Weiss and Sullivan & Cromwell.
Skadden added two more Weil partners on Tuesday, underscoring a talent war in which firms are using rich pay packages tied to private-equity, litigation and deal work to poach rainmakers.
Weil, a 1,200-lawyer firm known for dealmaking, bankruptcy and litigation, is now weighing paths that media reports said could include a potential wind-down.