AI may accelerate Big Law's unwinding as star partners can walk away with the assets
curious_vii · x · 2026-10-29
Commenting on Weil Gotshal ($2.1B revenue, $5.6M profit per equity partner) reportedly weighing bankruptcy, the author explains Big Law's peculiarity: you can acquire a firm's business without acquiring the firm — Cravath poached its top M&A lawyer, triggering cascading departures, taking the assets and leaving the liabilities. AI will worsen this: if AI replaces much junior associate work, superstar partners need fewer people and less infrastructure, giving them less reason to share economics. A canary for people-based services businesses at large.
Related event: Weil's Rumored Restructuring Sparks Debate on Big Law's AI-Era Viability(3 posts)→
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