While the Houston office of Weil Gotshal & Manges may have been deliberately undermined by Weil itself, after in June they “took away all but one assistant and all of the associates,” thus leaving the remaining associates to get the hint and leave, as Above the Law reported, the mass exodus from their Dallas office seems not to be intended.
Nevertheless, it is quite real, with their rival, Sidley, grabbing 16 confirmed lateral moves from Weil’s office, and the suggestion that as many as 16 more could leave.
Most recent to leave included “R. Jay Tabor, an M&A specialist with deep energy industry experience, and private equity-transactional attorney S. Scott Parel,” as Law360 reported.
The vigorously acquisitive Sidley’s has mushroomed to 60 lawyers recently. And while up to 30 some lawyers could join them, Weil is losing 5 or 10 others who are defecting to other firms.
The question to ask, naturally enough, is why is everybody leaving Weil? Law360 speculated on the topic and said it was Weil’s New York-centric management that is turning Texas lawyers off, what with their “protectionist” attitude toward New York lawyers, and also their requirement to charge New York-level rates.
Whether they can save their office, or whether it will go the way of Houston, will shortly unfold.