- U.S. & Americas
- Lateral moves
Goodwin said Thomas Henry will join the firm as partner and co-leader of its real estate industry group, according to The American Lawyer. Henry joins from Weil, Gotshal & Manges, where he was co-head of US real estate. The report says other Weil real estate lawyers may follow him.
Henry is ranked by Chambers and Legal 500. He joined Weil in July 2024 from Willkie Farr & Gallagher, where he had been real estate co-chair and co-managing partner of the New York office. His practice covers acquisitions and dispositions, financings, joint ventures, restructurings, leasing and development across major sectors. His clients include domestic and foreign real estate companies, private equity funds and institutional lenders. The report notes that a practice head of this rank brings those client relationships.
Weil's October wind-down opened a market Goodwin, Paul Weiss and Simpson Thacher are drawing from
The hire follows Weil's management committee recommending an orderly wind-down of the roughly 1,200-lawyer, 95-year-old firm on 28 October 2026. The recommendation came after a series of partner exits and failed merger talks, as reported by Law.com's International Edition. The collapse followed merger discussions with Willkie that broke down, according to PYMNTS. That accelerated the departures now sending Weil's lawyers to firms across the market.
The departures have included lawyers from Weil's strongest corporate and finance groups. A group led by former private equity co-head Chris Machera is moving to Paul Weiss in New York. The group includes M&A partner Timothy Burns, tax partner Noah Beck and exec-comp partner Amanda Rotkel, according to the Global Legal Post. Private funds co-head Stephanie Epstein Srulowitz and partner Corey Dietrich are among those moving to Simpson Thacher. Their moves are part of a steady pipeline to that firm, The American Lawyer reported. The exits began with Michael Aiello, chair of the corporate department, who left for a rival with a team of M&A partners, according to PYMNTS. Real estate is a later and quieter part of that redistribution.
Goodwin backfills a real estate bench Mayer Brown took three partners from in 2025
Goodwin's own real estate group had been losing people before this hire. In November 2025, a three-partner real estate and hospitality team, Teresa Goebel, Benjamin Tschann and Dustin Calkins, left Goodwin for Mayer Brown in San Francisco. They took co-leadership of Mayer Brown's global hospitality and leisure practice. Real estate partner Mary McQuinn then moved to Mayer Brown's Washington DC office in January 2026, according to Bloomberg Law. Henry joins as co-leader of the group. By the report's framing, that backfills real estate leadership that had moved to Mayer Brown.
Goodwin had already been adding lawyers elsewhere in real estate. In August 2026, it brought in partner Rebecca Lock to build a real estate funds platform in Philadelphia, the office it anchors as first tenant at 3025 JFK, according to Law360 Pulse. It has also expanded its California real estate footprint to four offices, opening in San Diego and a second Los Angeles office, according to Law.com. The Henry hire is part of that build, not a retreat.
Real estate partners at the top end move while the elite New York market stays open
The real estate work Henry handles, including acquisitions, financings, joint ventures and restructurings for funds and lenders, fits firms that are building investment and funds platforms rather than one-off transactional benches. Mayer Brown described its San Francisco additions as enhancing a nationally recognised real estate investments platform. Goodwin is building a similar practice across Philadelphia, California and now at the group-leadership level.
Weil's wind-down has put an unusual number of senior New York lawyers on the market at once. Cravath, Paul Weiss, Simpson Thacher and Goodwin are among the firms taking in partners and teams, according to Law.com. Henry was a lateral hire twice before, first at Willkie and then at Weil in 2024. The report that part of his Weil real estate group may follow him would make this a team move rather than a single hire. Over these weeks, Weil's practice groups are moving to several firms.
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