周三，这家近百年历史、曾为雷曼兄弟到通用汽车等公司提供服务的律师事务所韦莱（Weil, Gotshal & Manges）的领导层建议关闭该事务所。
Leaders at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, the nearly century-old law firm that worked for companies from the Lehman Brothers to General Motors, recommended on Wednesday that the firm shut down.
韦莱发言人周三在一份声明中表示：“经过对战略备选方案的审慎审查，事务所管理委员会已建议合伙人事务所寻求有序关闭。”
“Following a careful review of strategic alternatives, the Firm’s Management Committee has recommended to the partnership that the Firm pursue an orderly wind-down,” a Weil spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday.
根据声明，事务所合伙人预计将“在未来几天”就该建议进行投票。股权合伙人持有律所股份，并可对公司事务进行投票。
The firm’s partners are expected to vote on the recommendation “in the coming days,” according to the statement. Equity partners hold stakes in law firms and can vote on company matters.
90多年来，该律所因在华尔街主导破产和并购等高调公司诉讼而闻名。韦莱曾在2008年金融危机期间为雷曼兄弟提供咨询，该事务所称曾在“仅40天”内引导通用汽车走出破产保护。事务所表示，还曾指导安然等债务人，后者2001年的破产申请当时是美国历史上规模最大的。此外，该所还为微软687亿美元收购动视暴雪以及AT&T收购DirecTV提供过咨询。
For over 90 years, the law firm was well-known through Wall Street for steering high-profile corporate litigation such as bankruptcies and mergers. Weil advised the Lehman Brothers during the 2008 financial crisis, and the firm claims it brought General Motors out of bankruptcy in “just 40 days.”The firm said it guided debtors such as Enron, whose 2001 bankruptcy filing was the largest in American history at the time. It also advised Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard as well as AT&T’s acquisition of DirecTV.
法律新闻媒体Law.com早前报道，该事务所陷入知名合伙人大量出走的泥沼，主要是受竞争对手竞争驱动。而与另一家律所Willkie Farr的潜在合并今年告吹。韦莱宣布关闭，且不申请破产保护。
The firm had been mired by an exodus of prominent partners, largely driven by competition from rivals, legal news outlet Law.com earlier reported. And a potential merger with another law firm, Willkie Farr, fell through this year. Weil is announcing its closure without filing for bankruptcy.
这一消息在大型律所行业引发震动，该行业正经历自身变革。大型并购导致对顶尖人才的竞争加剧——此外还有人工智能带来的迫在眉睫的担忧。
The news sent shockwaves through the Big Law industry, which has been going through its own changes. Big mergers and acquisitions have led to more competition for top talent – and then there’s the looming dread of artificial intelligence.
根据其网站介绍，韦莱成立于1931年，在纽约至慕尼黑再到香港的办公室雇佣约1200名律师。事务所周三未宣布针对员工或办公空间的计划。
Weil was founded in 1931 and employs approximately 1,200 lawyers in offices from New York to Munich to Hong Kong, according to its website. The firm did not announce plans for its employees or office spaces on Wednesday.