| Weil, Gotshal & Manges | 767 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10153 |
| www.weil.com | (212) 310-8000 Fax: (212) 310-8007 |
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With almost 70 years of history behind it, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP is one of the most respected law firms in the world. The New York-based firm has over 750 lawyers in 12 offices worldwide, including outposts in London, Brussels, Frankfurt, and Warsaw. Weil Gotshal specializes in corporate law - but perhaps its more unique, and strongest, departments are bankruptcy and sports law. Weil is renowned for its prestigious bankruptcy practice, and the firm regularly represents sporting clients, such as the National Basketball Association Players Association.
History: from exclusion to a worldwide presence
Weil, Gotshal & Manges was founded in 1931 by a group of Jewish lawyers who had suffered discrimination at New York law firms. The firm started out by representing retail and textile companies, and grew rapidly. In the 1960s, Weil Gotshal established one of the nation's first antitrust practices, and in 1968 picked up and moved to its current location in the General Motors Building at Trump International Tower, overlooking Central Park. When the economy slumped in the 70s, Weil Gotshal hired lawyers while other firms were laying them off. The reason - the firm's bankruptcy practice. Large companies seeking bankruptcy protection meant a steady deal flow for the firm, allowing its expansion to continue virtually unimpeded. Today it employs more than 750 attorneys.
Also in the 1970s, Weil, Gotshal & Manges opened its first satellite office, in Washington, DC (1975). That was followed by offices in Miami (1981), Houston (1985), Dallas (1987), and the first major law office in Silicon Valley (1991). The firm grew internationally as well, adding branches in Budapest and Warsaw in 1991, and Prague and Brussels the following year. Until 1995 Weil, Gotshal & Manges linked its London operations to British firm Nabarro Nathanson. The firms split, however, and Weil, Gotshal & Manges now has over 100 attorneys practicing in its London office. The firm has also broached the idea of expanding into Italy and Singapore. In May 2000, the firm added a branch in Frankfurt, and in June 2000 announced an affiliation with a Paris law firm.
Brawlin' at the top
Stephen Dannhauser has spent 25 years with Weil Gotshal and was elected executive partner (essentially the firm's CEO) in 1989. Dannhauser's reign has not been without some controversy - in 1998 Dennis Block, a prominent business and securities litigation partner who had been with Weil for 27 years, left the firm. Reportedly, Block had objections to the general direction of the firm, including the opening of the London office. The initial break up was amicable, at least publicly. Block told The Wall Street Journal that "we had differences regarding how fast the growth is, how disorganized the growth is." Firm management commented only that Block's departure was a "mutual decision." The split proved to have more to it, courtesy of a June 1999 New York magazine article exposing the dark side of New York law firms. Block claimed he received no support at Weil Gotshal and that his clients "didn't select Weil, they selected Dennis Block." Dannhauser disputed that claim, saying Block's former clients had, by and large, stayed at Weil. The firm followed up with a letter to the magazine, claiming that Block had a "long history of inappropriate conduct" while at Weil and that he was asked to leave before the other partners expelled him.
Going broke? Call Weil
Weil, Gotshal & Manges is probably best known for its bankruptcy practice, considered one of the best in the world. The bankruptcy practice group is called "Business Finance and Restructuring" and has almost 20 partners in the U.S. The group head is partner Harvey Miller in New York.
Slam dunk
Among the firm's highest-profile clients are the players' associations of three of North America's largest sports leagues - the National Basketball Association, the National Football League, and the National Hockey League. James Quinn, head of Weil Gotshal's litigation department, represented the NBA Players' Association for nearly 20 years, winning an antitrust suit against the league on behalf of superstar Oscar Robertson in 1976. In 1983 he negotiated a collective bargaining agreement which secured the players 53 percent of league revenues in the salary cap. The NBA was later passed on to Jeffrey Kessler, who had won free agency for NFL players in the Freeman McNeil case. Kessler took on several high-profile cases on behalf of NBA players, including challenging the suspension of Latrell Sprewell of the Golden State Warriors for choking his coach. (Kessler won a reduction in Sprewell's punishment.) Weil went to battle with the NBA once more in 1999, negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement after a six-month lockout threatened to wipe out the entire 1998-1999 season.
Big-time practice areas
Weil, Gotshal & Manges's practice areas are many. The corporate department, however, is Weil, Gotshal's largest in terms of number of attorneys (approximately 150). The department covers capital markets, finance, general corporate, international, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and investment management and structured finance/derivatives. Weil represented Chancellor Broadcasting in its merger with Evergreen Media, and later advised the combined Chancellor/Evergreen in its $1.075 billion purchase of Viacom's radio stations. Other noteworthy corporate deals include advising NYNEX in its $31 billion merger with Bell Atlantic, and MediaOne in its purchase by AT&T.
Weil Gotshal's litigation practice has also seen its share of well-known clients. The firm successfully represented Avon Products in a wrongful termination suit filed by a former employee. Weil also represented New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver in his suit against Governor George Pataki. Silver alleged that Pataki had wielded his line-item veto power in an unconstitutional fashion. The suit is still pending.
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In a hot economy, an expanding reach
Weil focuses its search on top law schools, say insiders. "Hiring is limited to name-brand schools," says one contact bluntly. But some disagree, saying that getting hired "greatly depends on the law school you went to, although regional offices do hire from top tiers of regional schools." "Weil is not as status-conscious as some other firms in the law schools it recruits from," adds a source. "While the top national schools dominate, there are many attorneys from schools such as Cardozo, Brooklyn, St. John's, and so on," comments a New York associate. Seventeen schools in all are represented in the 2000 summer program.
Lateral hiring is most sensitive to economic conditions: "It of course depends on the condition of the economy in general and the capital markets in particular." Says one contact, "These days laterals who would not even have received an interview while in law school get on-the-spot job offers."
The firm is reportedly very generous when it comes to hiring summer associates. "The firm extends offers to virtually every summer associate," notes a source. "Once a summer associate has an offer for the summer, it's very difficult not to get a permanent offer."
The initial interview is everything
Weil's interview process generally starts with an on-campus interview, which is conducted primarily by partners. According to insiders, the interview is conversational in tone and lasts about 20 minutes. Not to put on any pressure, but one insider insists that the "initial interview is everything."
Applicants are notified within a week if they will receive a callback interview. For those that do, "the firm will pay for everything - airfare, the hotel, [and] food." For the callback session, members of the recruiting staff first greet the applicant "for a bit of a schmooze." Next, a member of the recruiting staff takes the applicant to the first of his or her four interviews, each of which lasts about 30 minutes. Interviews are divided equally between two partners and two associates. Insiders indicate that associates generally focus on personality and fit issues, while partners tend to explore whether the firm can "rely on you to do what you need to do at your level." At the end of the first interview, the attorney calls the next interviewer, and walks the applicant to the next office. After the interviews are done, two junior associates (generally in their first or second year) take the applicant to lunch.
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Competitive intensity
Weil associates generally describe the firm's culture as intense without being stuffy. One attorney calls it "a strange mix of competitive intensity on the one hand and left-liberal permissiveness and laxity on the other." Another associate calls it "very aggressive and loud - not a gentle place. The nickname of 'we'll get ya and mangle ya' about sums it up." (Firm management vehemently denies that the nickname still lingers among Weil Gotshal associates, though several lawyers from other firms that Vault.com surveyed used it in their descriptions of Weil.)
The New York office is by reputation more intense than the DC or Silicon Valley offices. "The Silicon Valley office is a 'work hard, play hard' casual environment," says a Menlo Park lawyer. Be warned, however: "Don't let the casual atmosphere fool you," says a DC associate. "The work that we do is top notch, and half-assed work won't cut it." In the end, a strong work ethic pervades the firm. "I often feel like I'm hanging out with my friends, only we have to get a lot of work done, and fast," reports one contact.
Less work, more play
Weil associates are critical of the social interaction among attorneys. "We need to have more events and social occasions that do not involve bi-monthly consumption of alcohol," says one teetotalling associate. "The biggest problem I have with the firm is that a true camaraderie among associates seems to be lacking." Another associate complains that "people are so busy they don't have time to talk to you. When I leave this firm, it's going to be because of the impersonal way we are treated." One associate claims that at Weil there exists a "billing code for partners to bill social time spent with associates. I'm not kidding!"
Acing the spelling test
Hours at Weil are longer than at most other large firms, according to associates. "The work assignments can come in late and that means wasted, non-billable time in the morning and late nights, which makes for unhappy significant others," says one associate. "Work can swallow you up whole here," warns another contact. "However, it is as much a function of the type of people who work here - that is to say, 'A-type' personalities - than the actual press of business. Most WG&M associates were the kids in your elementary school class who lost sleep for fear they had not studied enough for that upcoming spelling test." Not everyone is complaining though. "The hours are not bad as far as firms go - the billable target is 2,000, but not everyone hits it." Weil Gotshal says it does not have a target for billable hours. Other associates remark that "pro bono hours are counted as billable."
Pay: no trendsetter, but on the ball
Associates say that though Weil will never be the firm to spark a bidding war with attorney salaries, it will always keep up with the industry average. "Like firms across the country, Weil responded to the salary increases that started in California earlier this year," explains an associate. "As a result, associate pay dramatically increased across the board in February - though still not dramatically enough for many associates who feel overworked and undervalued." The firm now offers a long-term bonus plan to enhance associate retention. Observes one source contentedly, "I have no doubt that at the end of the year, my total compensation will meet or exceed that of any other firm for an associate performing at my level."
Another lawyer accuses the firm of playing games when calculating bonuses, essentially counting the first 15 months with the firm as one year. "Your second fall at the firm, your salary actually drops because you are still earning the base and there is no extra guaranteed bonus. It captures the Weil compensation strategy: Give you something extra that makes them look good by comparison, but then cut corners in places it would never occur to you someone would."
"Breathtaking" New York office
Office quality seems to vary by location - and sometimes by department. "The offices are nice and the views of Central Park are breathtaking," says a New York lawyer. "Great location. Nice design. Great location. Comfortable. Great location" another New York associate declares.
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Ms. Donna J. Lang
Manager of Legal Recruiting
(212) 735-4553
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Cravath, Swaine & Moore;Paul, Weiss, Rifking, Wharton & Garrison;Proskauer Rose ;Shearman & Sterling;Sullivan & Cromwell
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