原本即将出任 Weil, Gotshal & Manges（以下简称 Weil）主席的明星私募股权律师 Ramona Nee，现已加盟 Kirkland & Ellis（以下简称 Kirkland）。
Ramona Nee, the star private-equity lawyer poised to lead law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges before its rapid demise, is joining Kirkland & Ellis.
Nee 于今年 1 月当选接任 Weil 主席，但随着这家她效力逾 20 年的律所迅速瓦解，她选择退出。这家成立 95 年的律所上周宣布将关门停业。Nee 对 Weil 未来的愿景关键在于扩大规模，以便与 Kirkland 等大型律所抗衡。
Nee was elected to take over as Weil’s chair in January but stepped aside as the firm, where she worked for more than 20 years, unraveled fast. The 95-year-old firm said last week that it was shutting its doors. Key to Nee’s vision for Weil’s future was to scale up to compete with massive law firms like Kirkland.
Kirkland 于周五表示，将吸纳来自 Weil 私募股权、并购及债务融资业务领域的 40 名律师。该所称，这些合伙人将于 1 月加入。
Kirkland said Friday that it would add 40 lawyers from Weil’s private-equity, M&A and debt-finance practice areas. The partners will join the firm in January, the firm said.
据知情人士透露，Nee 在波士顿的私募股权业务是 Weil 最赚钱的业务之一，她曾收到包括 Simpson Thacher 以及 Ropes & Gray 在内的多家竞争对手的邀约。
Nee’s private-equity practice in Boston was one of the Weil’s most lucrative and she fielded offers from several rivals, including Simpson Thacher, as well as Ropes & Gray, according to people familiar with the matter.
Sidley Austin、Paul Weiss 和 Gibson Dunn 等律所也在积极招募和聘用 Weil 律师。一些律所甚至专门组建招聘团队，只为处理来自 Weil 合伙人及知名度稍低合伙人的简历。
Firms including Sidley Austin, Paul Weiss and Gibson Dunn are also eagerly recruiting and hiring Weil lawyers. Some firms are creating special recruiting teams just to handle résumés coming in from associates and less high-profile partners.
Nee 原定接替执掌该所 16 年、并计划于明年底退休的 Barry Wolf。她在今年早些时候凭借主张扩张规模的方案赢得了领导层支持，其中包括大力发展私募股权业务，她和其他人希望这能帮助 Weil 与规模更大的竞争对手抗衡。尽管 Weil 财务状况良好，但近几年增长速度却慢于其他律所。
Nee had been slated to take over from Barry Wolf, who led the firm for 16 years and was set to retire at the end of next year. She won support for her leadership earlier this year by championing a plan for scale, including leaning in to building private equity that she and others hoped would help Weil compete with their larger rivals. While Weil had healthy finances, it had slower growth compared with other firms in recent years.
该所部分合伙人表示，Wolf 和该所明星交易律师 Michael Aiello 并未给 Nee 真正领导的机会，因领导层在律所发展方向上发生冲突，变革计划陷入停滞。
Some partners at the firm said Wolf and the firm’s star dealmaker Michael Aiello didn’t give Nee the chance to lead, and plans for change were stalled as leaders clashed over the firm’s direction.
9月，艾耶洛通知事务所他将离职加入Cravath, Swaine & Moore（克拉维斯、斯韦恩和摩尔律师事务所），这在事务所内部引发恐慌，并加速了其寻找合并伙伴的努力。9月，妮告诉管理委员会她不打算领导事务所，但对外保密这一消息，以免干扰合并谈判。当合并谈判破裂时，引发的恐慌在几天内就宣告了事务所的终结。
In September, Aiello notified the firm he was leaving for Cravath, Swaine & Moore, which set off a panic inside the firm and accelerated its efforts to find a merger partner. Nee told the management committee in September that she didn’t plan to lead the firm, but kept the news quiet so as not to disturb the merger discussions. When merger talks died, it set off a panic that within days spelled the end of the firm.