Steel toe takes from an ivory tower đď¸
Joined August 2025
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I want to apologize to an old colleague of mine.
Heâd just gotten married and took a 10 day honeymoon (wow!). A month later he did a weekend ski trip (oof!) and couldnât get WiFi for a closing that got moved up 4 weeks. I filled in for him. I remember the partner saying he was a total âliabilityâ & that he sucked. I laughed and said âyeah - doesnât want it.â I believed it too. I spent the whole weekend playing âheroâ for Deal Team Six. You can ALWAYS count on me. Meanwhile my relationship was on borrowed time and hair thinning rapidly. Iâm V10 baby!
He got âstealthâ dismissed that Monday. They let him keep his website photo for 2 months while he found something new. He did.
Fast forward a few years - I see it way different. He was bright, and hard working, and put his ppl first. He liked his life. He had balls.
But I was racinâ! - king of the rats. And my apartment in midtown actually had vermin. A totally delusional period of my life.
One of those lessons you learn in hindsight.
Hope youâre doing well brother.
Jon Con Esq. retweeted
Big issue with law - the 100 hour weeks are 100 hour weeks. Not billing waiting for comments. To my knowledge IB doesnât bill. If it were just based on my time at work, Iâd work 120 hour weeks
I showed up to my first firm and the guy who hired me left a month later. I had to quickly learn the big law market and pivot into a better role (pretty easy sell as a first year - I can be âhome grownâ). That lateral was jet fuel for my career and network. Unlike the big 4 or more concentrated big tech conglomerates, law has unrivaled parity - there are 50 elite law firms. Many are already better off post collapse
Gibson Dunn Could Roll Out The Welcome Mat For Up To 120 Weil Lawyers abovethelaw.com/2026/11/gibsâŚ
Agree the ânon lawyer ownerâ argument is weak. Itâs not bad, just bleh. Iâm not sold you couldnât do it. Reminder there are many owners / shares - assume some could be allocated outside the service jockey ranks, esp if it improves the white glove experience. Also, Barry is an absolute Wolf in sheepâs clothing, the mirror clause is diabolical. Now I know why Aiello bounced. Coattails counsel gave him the ick. No diff than a partner riding an associate for biz connects. Partners should provide value to the other partners - all boats need to rise for the firm to invest in one another. First Brad, now Barry. Bad year for the Bâs at A list shops
Weil's Barry Wolf getting paid as much as the firm's highest-paid partner caught my attention for two reasons:
1. This is pretty different from my experience as a tech CEO. The highest-paid law firm partners tend to be rainmakers - getting paid extra for their success selling. At Kira, I had sales reps make waaaay more than me. I LOVED it! It meant (1) we were selling lots and (2) our sales reps were getting PAID, making it easier to retain them and hire other great ones.
In fact, Alex Hudek and I made $100k CAD/year each from ~2015 until we sold Kira in 2021. Most people at Kira made more than us! This worked because we had lots of equity, and were incentivized to build long-term value rather than maximize annual comp.
2. This gets to how US law firms mostly can't have non-lawyer owners - partly because of a theory that corporate owners might prioritize profits over duties to clients and the profession.
I find this a pretty weak argument. Corporate ownership can actually encourage better behavior, since doing things that are good for clients and the firm's reputation should generally build long-term value. Maximizing this year's partner comp might not.
Sort of like how banks were pushed to pay more long-term compensation after 2008, to discourage bankers from taking risks that might pay off immediately but blow up the bank later.
Corporate ownership doesn't always lead to better behavior. But it's questionable to prohibit it on the theory that it makes lawyers behave worse.
Jon Con Esq. retweeted
As a deal lawyer, the senior counsel does jack rabbit. They arguably make it worse. Junior manpower pulls the sled, midlevel manpower make decisions, and senior lawyers comment those actions. The partner cashes a gargantuan check and gets dinner with peer clientele
Jon Con Esq. retweeted
Energy is the hottest practice in big law, since mid 2025. If you can name a close second, DM me. Doubt it
Jon Con Esq. retweeted
Good thought. No issue with it
But from a lawyer POV:
Kirkland is heavily diluted, esp at the tail end of this year. Theyâll keep printing but itâs by no means the top spot. The two boutiques (Cravath / Wachtell) + Gibson / Simpson / D Polk / Skadden / Latham / Sulcrom + the elite and guarded Milbank have better talent on a lawyer by lawyer basis
Kirkland is the poach king, which means theyâll take their medicine on some latties not panning out or plateauing production. In sheer manpower, Kirkland and Latham are your guys.
I prefer the swat team elites
I keep hearing that the LLP is under siege. Yet itâs being attacked by⌠other LLPs.
Letâs pause for nuance.
Good post by OP (satirically spot on) - big law is cutthroat in ways you donât get unless youâre in it. And from a service perspective it keeps getting better and faster and harder to stick around.
But itâs easy to find a new gig.
Wanted to add some color to this, aka âbig law bumper carsâ - the way ppl come and go between firms. Iâm a product of this. Have done it. And thatâs a beautiful thing bc itâs a reflection of utility and merit, good things. My mentors didnât do this bc they didnât have to.
Until now.
You get what you start with, what you can keep, and what you can TAKE. Big law is every bit the latter right now. Naysayers and chore lawyers read the Weil Washout as âbig law is cookedâ or âthe tech wonâ or âthe billable hour is dead!â These arenât even red herrings. Itâs just wrong. Square peg round hole.
Weilâs profile was a perfect storm for flight - and theyâre now the poster child of modern v15 woes. They were totally elite, but not tippy top elite. FOMO partners with prestige chips were bound to seek an outsized return as soon as they could, and the time was now - itâs a banner year for ivory tower legal. 2026 is about the âtakeâ for those who can. Weil partners could. And they took off.
Anyway, associates at Weil will lateral just like the partners who caused the collapse did. Theyâll be largely okay. Some even better off.
Ping me if you need a pep talk
Big law is booming đ§¨
Itâs been a weil since a *real* big law firm dissolved. Dewey & LeBoeuf was diff. The two merged in 2007 and filed BK in 2012. Each firm was arguably regional / big law adjacent. Weil is an old guard juggernaut formed in 1931. They were a first mover wall st firm that survived the Great Depression - but couldnât get thru 2026. Green logos are a huge issue at this point. First Hogan, then Weil. Orrick - tread lightly.
From what Iâve heard, Weil did not prioritize associate perks and their black box comp was bleh. Theyâd been floundering for a few years in the war on talent. That said, their PPP was totally healthy - around 6 mil per partner. Classic rainmaker model. A house of cards.
Law is incredibly portable - which is one of its bright spots. Get a new laptop and go. Your clients and teams often follow.
Weil was usually on the winning side of this. Until like 5 days ago. And itâs a white flag effort.
Shocked to see a dissolution in a record year.
Will report back - have feelers out
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/busineâŚ
Iâm the undisputed voice of big law (#JonVault) but would love to hear other examples. As I said Dewey wasnât real. I donât know any other examples - certainly not v15 firms. In the last - what - 100 years? Lmk if anyone has inside baseball that predates my expertise
Iâm being told Dooey was top market elite. Can anyone corroborate? Iâm open to being wrong. Iâm elitist, not ignorant. I just donât trust @lex_node bc every firm he touches turns to dust. đŞ
Jon Con Esq. retweeted
Totally agree with you but also remember you control your book. If your book kills, youâre killin. This is more presupposing riding the wave of the firm generally. Which is true - you get an outsized return if your firm is on a heater. But you still technically control your $
Few know that big firms give pensions. Main reason many senior partners stick around and float down big book river for too long. Wishing the Weil crew good things. Iâve been tough on them but itâs a good, proven shop. Truly a modern day bank run - except the bags of cash are ppl. And the ppl command bags of cash. I still think a merger is their best bet, but they will not retain a controlling stake brand wise
NEW: Brian Resnick from Davis Polk restructuring team now on scene at Weil and wind-down now being actively discussed among options:
ft.com/content/69ccfcb0-3f5eâŚ
Many big law firms increased headcount 25% year over year. The legal sector remains utterly teflon in the face of volatile geopolitics and agentic tech tyranny. We are here to serve you, even when the institutions you serve turn their backs on you. Lawyers are the path to peace
Weil has been in decline - for a while. They lack the headcount of untouchable poach firms and lack the practice prestige of the next tier of ivory kingpins. Itâs a shop with no stick, which is an issue bc there has NEVER been more options for those with agency or ambition. Iâve worked at two firms in the v10 - itâs a âyou know when you see itâ white glove service and Weil lost it. Yucky green logo too. Hogan found out first about that.. but they snuck a merger in while it was still chic to Pac-Man up the charts. Mergers are subtraction by addition in todayâs big law. Tippy top elites use a singular brand as cache to clients who need a timeless stamp
NEW: Weil turmoil continues. Ramona Nee tells management committee she's not taking firm chair job, amid massive defections over last several weeks. Her future at Weil and firm's standalone future in doubt:
ft.com/content/0ce8a176-19d9âŚ
