Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP

Firm Details:

Executive Partner: Barry M. Wolf

Number of partners: approximately 290

Number of lawyers: approximately 1,200

Languages: Arabic, Armenian, Bahasa (Indonesian), Cantonese, Czech, English, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Serbian, Serbo-Croatian, Sindhi, Slovenian, Spanish, Tagalog, Thai, Turkish, Vietnamese

Firm Overview: Founded in 1931, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP has been a preeminent provider of legal services for more than 90 years. With approximately 1,200 lawyers in offices on three continents, Weil has been a pioneer in the marketplace and a first-mover in the establishment of many significant practice areas.The Firm’s four departments, Corporate, Litigation, Restructuring, and Tax, Executive Compensation & Benefits, and more than two dozen practice groups are consistently recognized as leaders in their respective fields.

Main Areas of Practice:

Restructuring: Weil’s Restructuring Department is a preeminent group that has an outsized presence in the industry. The Firm invented much of what has become standard practice in the field. For more than 50 years, Weil has offered creative, practical and thoughtful solutions for its clients on both the debtor and creditor sides. The global department comprises more than 100 dedicated lawyers, including many recognised as leaders in their field. The largest, most complex and most important restructuring matters in history require a truly international firm like Weil that can handle all aspects of the process globally.

M&A: With more than 650 corporate lawyers across the U.S., Europe and Asia, Weil is regularly involved in the largest and most complex transactions in the world. The Firm consistently ranks among the top-ten firms globally for volume of M&A transactions. Over the last five years, Weil has handled more than 1,700 deals totaling more than $2.5 trillion in deal value.

Private Equity & Fund Formation: Weil’s Private Equity practice is recognised as an elite market leader in the field. Its clients include high-profile private equity funds, sovereign wealth funds and pension funds, as well as family offices and other equity financial investors. With nearly 300 private equity lawyers worldwide, Weil advises more than 300 private equity clients, including the top 10 largest global private equity funds and 80% of the top 25 largest global private equity funds as ranked by PEI 300 2023. Weil’s Private Funds practice is fully integrated with its transactional practice, allowing it to provide comprehensive support for all clients.

Finance: Weil’s global finance team comprises lawyers in its Banking & Finance, Capital Markets, and Structured Finance & Derivatives practices in many of the world’s key financial centers, including New York, Dallas, Silicon Valley, London, Paris and Frankfurt. Weil’s broad-based Banking & Finance practice advises corporate borrowers, financial institutions and private equity sponsors on innovative financing transactions. Its capital markets practice represents both issuers and underwriters on all types of public and private debt and equity offerings. The Firm’s Structured Finance & Derivatives practice develops cutting-edge structures at the forefront of the marketplace and has deep experience in the establishment of CLO/CDO vehicles.

Litigation: Weil’s global Litigation Department provides clients with integrated and innovative legal advice in all major substantive areas of the law. Its multidisciplinary, trial-ready approach helps clients manage risk across geographies at every stage of the dispute resolution process and before courts of all levels. With approximately 350 litigators worldwide, the firm excels in multi-jurisdictional corporate and commercial litigation, cross-border regulatory investigations, IP litigation, international arbitration, shareholder and transactional disputes, tax controversy, and crisis management and risk mitigation.

Tax: Weil’s global Tax practice houses nearly 80 lawyers across the U.S., London, Paris, Munich and Frankfurt, delivering innovative, comprehensive and tax-efficient solutions on every type of domestic and cross-border transaction presenting significant tax issues, including complex M&A; private equity and fund formation matters; restructurings and recapitalisations; securitisations; real estate and REITs; and capital markets and other financing matters.

Executive Compensation & Employee Benefits: Weil’s Executive Compensation & Benefits practice based in the U.S. and U.K. advises clients on the legal and financial risks associated with compensation and benefit arrangements in M&A, private equity, private funds and restructuring transactions — many of which involve sensitive issues for senior management, transition planning and compensation.

Pro Bono: Weil is widely recognised for its Pro Bono practice, ranking among the best firms for pro bono in the U.K. by Legal Week in 2020 and named Best International Firm for Pro Bono by Euromoney Americas Women in Business Law Awards in 2018. Since 2005, the Firm has performed more than 1 million pro bono hours.