- Europe
- Lateral moves
- London
Law.com reports a wave of high-profile partner departures from Weil, Gotshal & Manges's London office. It attributes them to "slow growth and individualism" and describes the once market-leading base as facing its biggest test yet. London co-managing partner and M&A head David Avery-Gee left weeks earlier for Sullivan & Cromwell, where he joined as co-head of European M&A alongside Weil partner Sarah Flaherty (Lawyer Monthly).
Nearly 40 Weil partners have left or signalled exits since January
Nearly 40 partners have left Weil or signalled their intention to leave since January. That is around 13% of its roughly 300-partner partnership, including 12 partners in London (Legal Business). Incoming executive chair Ramona Nee takes over on 1 January.
Weil has rejected merger speculation. The firm said it "is not engaged in merger discussions with any firm" while it "continually evaluate[s] opportunities to strengthen our platform," after reports that it had considered a tie-up in response to the departures (Legal Cheek).
Sullivan & Cromwell, Simpson Thacher and Paul Weiss take Weil's London partners
Sullivan & Cromwell has made nine lateral partner hires in London since autumn 2025. Four came from Weil in six months (Legal Business). Finance partners Christopher McLaughlin and Alastair McVeigh moved there to lead its PE/leveraged finance and European private credit practices. Jenny Choi became the third Weil finance partner to join S&C in 2026 (The Global Legal Post).
Simpson Thacher hired six Weil partners across London and New York, including London secondaries partners Simon Saitowitz and Charles Cooper-Isow. Both had joined Weil from Kirkland in April 2026 (Nonbillable). The firm also added London M&A partner Murray Cox in August 2026. London finance head Tom Richards is in advanced talks to join Simpson Thacher with a team. London private equity M&A partner Max Oppenheimer is set to move to Paul Weiss (Bloomberg Law).
Akin re-hired a three-partner London restructuring team. Neil Devaney was named head of London financial restructuring, with Lois Deasey and Matt Benson. All three returned after several years at Weil (Nonbillable).
Debt finance, private equity and restructuring at the centre of the departures
The London losses are concentrated in debt finance and private credit. Richards, McLaughlin, McVeigh and Choi all worked in those practices before leaving for rivals (Legal Business). US firms are expanding most aggressively in these areas in the City. Private capital platforms need the lending, fund and buyout partners who handle that work, which explains why the same names keep appearing at rival firms.
Private equity M&A is the other contested practice. The restructuring departures to Akin reduce a long-standing City capability. The secondaries departures also leave Weil's funds bench thinner, only months after the firm had hired to rebuild it.
The pattern began before the current flurry and started in New York. Corporate chair Michael Aiello moved to Cravath with five M&A partners: Matthew Gilroy, Eoghan Keenan, Amanda Fenster, Michelle Sargent and Megan Pendleton (JD Journal). Former private equity co-head Chris Machera led a separate New York move to Paul Weiss with partners Timothy Burns, Noah Beck and Amanda Rotkel (The Global Legal Post).
The scale of Weil's attrition has been compared with Paul Weiss's 2023 London relaunch. The comparison puts the departures closer to a major reshaping of the City market than ordinary turnover. Sullivan & Cromwell, Simpson Thacher, Paul Weiss, Akin and Cravath have taken in the partners, building finance and private capital practices with partners who previously practised those areas at Weil. The firm's leadership transition on 1 January will now happen alongside the rebuilding of those practices.
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