- U.S. & Americas
- Lateral moves
Caroline Hickey Zalka, head of securities litigation and a member of Weil, Gotshal & Manges's management committee, is in advanced talks to join Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, The American Lawyer reported on 22 October.
Zalka is a trial and appellate litigator who defends shareholders and companies in complex business disputes, including private equity-related litigation. She was named The Lawyer's 2026 North America Securities Lawyer of the Year. She advises boards and management on securities law, corporate governance and disclosure.
Zalka follows Machera and Aiello off Weil's leadership ranks
Zalka would be the latest management-level departure from Weil this year. New York private equity co-head Christopher Machera announced his move to Paul Weiss in August 2026, The American Lawyer reported. Corporate chair Michael Aiello left for Cravath in September 2026 with a six-partner M&A team that included Matthew Gilroy, Eoghan Keenan, Amanda Fenster, Michelle Sargent and Megan Pendleton, according to Bloomberg Law. Machera and Aiello both sat on management or strategy committees, The American Lawyer noted in its report on Zalka's move.
Weil has lost more than 25 partners in 2026, Bloomberg Law reported. London M&A partners David Avery-Gee and Sarah Flaherty moved to Sullivan & Cromwell, while London finance head Tom Richards left for Simpson Thacher, according to Above the Law. Private equity partners Robert Rizzo, who moved to McDermott Will & Schulte, and Chris Bennett, who moved to Vinson & Elkins, also departed, Legal Business reported.
Paul Weiss took private equity partners from Weil and is now reaching into litigation
Paul Weiss hired Machera and, separately, two more Weil lawyers for its London private equity practice as part of a UK growth push, Law360 reported. Zalka would extend that run from transactional work into disputes.
Paul Weiss promoted 34 new partners this year, with litigation and M&A the most represented departments, under a new non-equity partner tier, Legal.io reported. Its litigation group had room to rebuild after Karen Dunn, Bill Isaacson, Jeannie Rhee and Jessica Phillips left in 2025 to start a boutique, taking roughly a dozen lawyers, according to Wikipedia. A securities and shareholder litigator who advises boards on governance and disclosure would fit that group.
The flow runs both ways. Weil recruited antitrust partner Yuni Yan Sobel from Paul Weiss in New York on 19 October, The American Lawyer reported.
Weil signed a merger MOU after denying merger talks in September
Weil leadership told practice group chiefs that the firm had signed a memorandum of understanding on a merger with an unnamed firm, with an announcement possible within a week, Above the Law reported on 20 October. That reversed the firm's denial of merger talks in September.
Weil says it has hired roughly 50 partners since early 2025 and is on track for record revenue and profitability in 2026, Legal Business reported. The firms recruiting its partners this year include Cravath, Paul Weiss, Sullivan & Cromwell and Simpson Thacher, Bloomberg reported.
The departures are concentrated in private equity, M&A and now securities litigation, the practices Paul Weiss is building through lateral hiring and partner promotions. A management committee member leaving a securities litigation practice for a firm rebuilding its own litigation group, while her firm negotiates a merger, is part of the senior-level attrition Weil has recorded across 2026.
More US legal market news.
