Weil Gotshal & Manges’ stunning collapse sends the firm’s nearly 600 associates out on the job market with their career paths newly upended.

The crop of lawyers now looking for work includes a new class of first-year associates that started at Weil earlier this month, as well as more experienced attorneys who have toiled for years for a shot at making partner at what was one of the premier US law firms. A Weil human resources official said in a Friday email to US associates that the firm will use an internal job board to post openings elsewhere.

“Everyone has to look out for number one at this point,” said an associate at the firm, which is preparing to wind down following a raft of partner exits and failed merger talks. “Everyone has to find new jobs.”

The new job seekers are the kind of candidates that top firms scramble to snap up: Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison hired a number of junior Weil lawyers and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher is reportedly set to bring on a 40-strong London private funds team, including several associates. But remaining associates are looking for landing spots in a recruiting market that has slowed amid economic uncertainty and concerns about the impact of artificial intelligence on hiring demand.

It’s a “market that’s flooded by several attorneys and staff in the legal space who will not be able to find replacement job because there are so many people in the market,” said Evan Goodman, a former Akin LLP counsel who started his own practice.

Large law firms hired 7.5% fewer new graduates last year, according to data released last month from the National Association for Law Placement. Overall associate hiring ticked up, but remained well below all-time highs seen in 2021 and 2022.

Weil announced plans to wind down its operations on Wednesday, marking the end of the road for a nearly century-old law firm that was once a New York corporate powerhouse. The unnamed associate, who spoke on condition of anonymity, gathered with a group of junior lawyers Wednesday for a firmwide Zoom call in which Executive Partner Barry Wolf delivered the news.

The associate said they had already been in contact with recruiters about possible moves and was inundated with more than 100 LinkedIn connection requests from headhunters in the two days since Wolf’s announcement. The Weil alumni network has also been helpful, the associate said. People are also sharing job opportunities in a new informal group chat.

Still, they said the firm’s rapid downturn has come as a shock.

“I understand that Big Law is a very cut-throat environment, but just the level of greed combined with the lack of leadership from the top of the firm was truly disappointing,” the associate said. “You had people on the management committee who signed up to lead the firm through whatever came, and instead of shepherding the firm through a very difficult time, they used their insider information to negotiate deals with other firms and oftentimes leaving associates behind,” they said.

‘Healthy Market’

The developments could saturate the market for associate jobs in New York, where roughly two-thirds of Weil’s junior lawyers are based, said Summer Eberhard, a California-based legal recruiter at Lateral Link. But concerns about flooding the market should not extend more widely.

“Weil associates have traditionally been highly marketable because of their credentials and sophisticated experience, and I don’t see that changing,” Eberhard said. At least some Weil associates will have opportunities to follow partners with whom they work closely to new firms, she said.

The firm’s fall is expected to prompt a bidding war for high-end partners, especially those from Weil’s vaunted bankruptcy practice group. Ramona Nee, the private equity lawyer who previously was tapped to take over Wolf’s role leading the firm, is in talks to join Kirkland & Ellis with 40 or more of her colleagues.

Lawyers with substantial books of business can secure new jobs at compensation levels that fill any gaps caused by the firm’s dissolution, said Goodman. The hundreds of more junior Weil lawyers and staff members may not be so lucky, he said.

Weil associates and staff were told they will receive salary and benefits for 90 days and those employees will be eligible for bonuses if they remain at the firm until near year-end. The firm hasn’t said how much bonus money is on the table.

Blair Broser, a recruiter at Momentum Search Group, said she’s heard from more than half-a-dozen of the 50 largest US firms inquiring about Weil associates. About a dozen associates have reached out for help finding new firms, Broser said.

“Associates are in a tough position.” Broser said. “They don’t have any leverage at this time.”

—With reporting from Justin Henry