Weil’s Incoming Leader Won’t Take The Job, And Might Take One At Simpson Thacher Instead

Weil Gotshal & Manges was supposed to rebuild its new leadership team around Ramona Nee. Now she may be doing her building somewhere else.

Semafor reports that Nee, Weil’s incoming executive partner, has held talks to join Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. Weil declined to comment, Nee didn’t respond, and sources caution that the talks could still fall apart. But whether or not she ends up at Simpson Thacher, she won’t be running Weil: Bloomberg Law reports that Nee has told the firm’s leadership committee she will not take the position, also reported by the Financial Times.

So who is running Weil next year? Nobody seems to know. Per Bloomberg Law, it’s unclear whether Barry Wolf will still retire at the end of the year as planned, or who would replace him if he does.

This is a huge blow. When corporate chair Michael Aiello decamped for Cravath, which Weil dismissed as “a smaller platform,” the story out of Weil was that losing him would finally clear the way for Nee to grow the private equity practice. Nee herself said the firm was “moving decisively” to strengthen itself, and Bloomberg Law reported that Weil’s whole rebuilding effort depended on partners sticking with her. The “let Weil be Weil” pitch was, in many ways, a pitch about Ramona Nee.

And she might not be leaving alone. One source told Semafor that a “sizable” portion of Weil’s Boston partnership would likely follow her out the door. Simpson Thacher, meanwhile, has already made itself quite at home in Weil’s private equity bench: it took Murray Cox, followed by private funds partners Simon Saitowitz, Stephanie Epstein Srulowitz, Brian Parness, and Andrew Nichol, as we noted last month, and London finance head Tom Richards is headed there too. At this point, Simpson Thacher should consider opening a Weil wing.

All of this lands right after a rough week for Weil: its merger talks with Willkie Farr collapsed, and another wave of exits included two members of the management committee.

Now the finger-pointing has started, and it’s aimed at the top. Wolf has led Weil since shortly after the financial crisis, and during the back half of his tenure, the firm’s financial performance lagged behind its peers, according to Bloomberg Law. Those peers include Simpson Thacher, Paul Weiss, and Davis Polk, which are the same firms now picking off Weil’s partners. Semafor reports that current and former Weil lawyers blame Wolf for failing to convince senior partners that Weil has a vision for a world where AI and eye-popping pay packages are reshaping Biglaw, and that was also at least partially behind Aiello’s exit, too. Back in September, Weil insiders lined up to tell reporters the problem was Aiello. Now it’s the guy who called Aiello his “closest friend” at the firm.

Weil promised to accelerate its growth strategy after Aiello left, but the only thing that’s sped up since is the exodus.

Earlier: Weil’s Merger With Willkie Is Dead, But Its Partner Exodus Is Very Much Alive
Weil Gotshal Is Reportedly Negotiating A Merger, About A Month After Saying It Wasn’t In Merger Talks
Weil’s Revolving Door Now Spins In Both Directions
Weil Seeks To Strengthen Its ‘Platform’ As Merger Rumors Swirl
The Cravath Shade Wasn’t A One-Off: Weil Insiders Line Up To Say Good Riddance
Weil’s Corporate Chair Decamps For Cravath, Which Weil Would Like You To Know Is ‘A Smaller Platform’