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Over now are the days when a Paul, Weiss partner such as Brad Karp would crow about surging Profit Per Equity Partner.   A perfect storm of client resentment about high fees/lawyers' making more than they and instability in the sector (think Weil collapse) has driven Paul, Weiss to halt reporting its financial performance to American Lawyer. FT broke that story. Kirkland & Ellis had been the first law firm to discontinue the release of financial data. That, of course, means the end of most of the rankings game.  For years now Paul, Weiss has been grafting on parts of the Kirkland & Ellis' hustler model and veering away from lockstep practices of white shoe firms.  Internally and in a growing number of venues that tended not to sit well. For example, here's how BusinessInsider  lamented the shift way back in 2021 in the new order of things. The new era of Scott Barshay has accelerated that transition. It remains controversial. Watchers wonder if Barshay can ...

Humans are a self-oriented species. That's probably why caveman survived, passing on genes. So, post-Weil collapse the major buzz is: Who's next. That's the individualistic angst. Should I start looking now? The essential answer is: Any and all law firms could be next. That's because, as prominent law firms currently are structured, a small number of rainmakers with portable books of business can pull out at any time, driving the business into ruin. All the other variables might be positive. Still, the firm could go out of business. That's the new order of things in Big Law, as David Enrich documents in the 2022 "Servants of The Damned." The law firm as noble public-interest institution has mutated into an ATM for building wealth.  And that's exactly the partner flight Paul, Weiss' Brad Karp feared when the Trump administration issued its infamous Executive Order.  So, Karp made the decision to cut a deal with the administration to prevent Paul, We...

  As a coach back then I still vividly recall the glut of unemployed junior lawyers during and after the Great Recession. They included both laid-off associates and those whose job offers had been rescinded. The situation was glut.  With Weil's unwinding there will soon be 594 associates scrambling to land comparable jobs. Also in upheaval will be the plans of those who were to be members of the Class of 2027. According to a chat bot Weil hadn't released that number. Of course, people, not a resume, get you jobs. So, the reach-out, beginning today with the announcement that Weil is winding down, in the legal sector is and will be intense.  But, even amid this soul-wrenching development there is gallows humor. On Reddit , there's the conjecture that Michael Aiello started it all (lateraled to Cravath) and speculation if he feels bad now. I offer all Weil associates a complimentary intuitive coaching consultation (Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com, text 203-468-8579).

Reddit captures the now-usual in job search:  " ... 4 months. I’m in fashion ... Interviewed with 23 companies and did 49 interviews just to land this 1 offer." And that has a happy ending. The poster 1) Landed a job and 2) The position was in their field. Most of those scrambling for career whatever or even for work, of any kind, aren't so fortunate. So, no surprise, among us Boomers the talk is: "No way, I couldn't go through eight interviews per application to get a career started or keep it going." Those of us still earning income from the sweat of our brow are primarily doing it on our own terms. For five years I have been operating a highly specialized boutique. I have enough business and that's enough. So far I haven't had to withdraw from savings/investments to pay the bills. Overall, other Boomers on my networks also are doing it their way. If that means doing retail at a big box, that's okay. No grousing about the loss of title, status...

  In after-hours trading, Apollo's stock rose to more than 114 when it was announced  that it had taken a minority equity stake in Mubadala Capital. At 10:10 AM ET the stock is about 117. This development is significant because it deepens Apollo's reach in Abu Dhahi, a region known as the "capital of capital." Apollo has been doing business in the area for 15 years and partnering with Mubadala since 2022. This latest development positions both parties to jointly source and custom-make global debt and equity financing for business. Mubadala Capital is the area's only significant asset manager. It's the alternative asset management subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company.  It administers and advises more than $755 billion in assets. Its wholly owned core alternatives business manages and invests more than $60 billion. The objective of the transaction for Mubadala is to scale.  For the legalities, Apollo is represented by Paul, Weiss, as usual. That unique and ...

 Thanks, but no thanks. That's what sources r eport the incoming executive partner at Weil Romona Nee told the distressed law firm. The optics are brutal for Weil with this latest development.  An underlying problem for Weil has been that its growth in the last several years didn't keep up with that of its competitors. Way back in 2021 Paul, Weiss partner Brad Karp had warned that it was Grow or Go, that is, go out of business for law firms in the new world order. That requires increase in revenue/profits per equity partner, international expansion, adding more and more stars on the marque and scaling practices.  Old news, of course, is that the proposed merger with Willkie fell through and how Weil has experienced partner flight. Recently that loss of talent has included members of the management committee.  Typical in crisis, there are players who win big from others' situations. Here that includes Paul, Weiss. It had poached one of those management committee m...