About 10 former Weil Gotshal & Manges partners have hired Peter Wang, a litigator at Foley & Lardner, to represent them as the New York law firm pursues an 'orderly wind-down'. Wang previously represented over 100 lawyers in the 2012 bankruptcy of Dewey Le Boeuf. The move is an early sign of legal battles likely to follow Weil's demise.
Total partner equity worth tens or hundreds of millions of dollars could be wiped out during the shutdown. Separately, current and former lawyers say they are frustrated with longtime executive partner Barry Wolf and want to probe how the firm was managed in its final months. A breach-of-fiduciary-duty lawsuit against Weil's management committee remains a possibility.
The FT previously reported Weil was appointing a wind-down committee, likely including Wolf, and hiring consulting firm Alix Partners to manage its books.
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing