Weil Gotshal to Lose Top Dealmaker and Five Other Partners to Cravath
Michael Aiello’s exit comes after recent departures of other top lawyers
- Michael Aiello, the head of Weil’s corporate practice, and five other partners are leaving the law firm to join Cravath, people familiar with the matter said.
- The departures come as Weil undergoes a leadership transition, with Ramona Nee set to succeed executive partner Barry Wolf.
- Weil stated that it intends to accelerate the execution of its ambitious growth strategy following the team’s departure.
Weil, Gotshal & Manges is set to lose its top dealmaker and five other partners after a number of other top lawyers at the firm recently decamped for competitors.
Michael Aiello, who led Weil’s over 600-person corporate practice, is set to join Cravath along with other M&A-focused partners, people familiar with the matter said.
The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Weil was facing multiple partner defections, and was expected to lose several private-equity focused partners to rivals. Christopher Machera, the former co-head of Weil’s private-equity group and a former member of its management committee, has since joined Paul Weiss.
Weil is in the middle of a leadership transition, with Boston partner Ramona Nee set to succeed executive partner Barry Wolf after his more than 16-year run as the firm’s leader.
Aiello, who has worked on deals for clients including Dow Chemical and Sanofi, had become a towering figure within Weil as he was given increasing management duties. He was a close ally of Wolf, people familiar with the matter said.
“Mike Aiello and his team have informed us that they are leaving the firm for a smaller platform,” Weil said in a statement Thursday. “Weil has long believed that an ambitious growth strategy is in the firm’s best interest and intends to accelerate execution of that strategy going forward. We thank Mike and his team for their contributions.”
Top law firms are under pressure from all sides, with aggressive poaching of rainmakers, the pressure of artificial intelligence and less-loyal clients. Many of the biggest law firms have been intensely focused on courting and retaining private-equity clients, who tend to provide a steadier stream of work than big corporations.
Cravath has long been one of the most prestigious law firms on Wall Street, and a coveted landing spot for top law school graduates. But it has been threatened by megafirms like Kirkland Ellis and Latham & Watkins, and hasn’t heavily invested in private equity. Its leader for the last decade, Faiza Saeed, is also a top dealmaker and worked on deals including Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox.
Cravath was one of the last firms to do away with a traditional lockstep model that pays equity partners equal shares of the revenue. Only a few still have this model, including Wachtell, which earlier this summer lost a team of six litigation partners in an almost-unheard-of defection to Gibson Dunn.