unfortunately for the rest of us, not by a long shot. they still have 14 or 15 partners in new york alone, most with more experience and reputation than the departing partners. miller, goldstein, bienenstock, karotkin, walsh, tanenbaum, etc, etc, etc. as for the departures-- troop got to the firm when it took over his boston p/e shop (he was the only bankruptcy guy) maybe a year ago where he basically serviced their private equity clients and davis has only been a partner a few years and hasn't done much. you dont really see/here much of palmer or rapisardi, so i'm not sure this does much to weil's practice. theyve always had partner departures (eg - zirinsky, ball, puntus, sutherland, cantor, rogoff, etc) and didn't seem to skip a beat largerly a result of their deep bench. with about 15 or so partners in new york, theyre still the biggest shop with the most experience.

but they are all so pathetic - working untold hours on boring-ass bankruptcy cases. if you really want money, make like the feds and print it or steal it.

How much of a salary bump do you think they are getting by going to CWT?

Money: They're getting four pints of associate blood each day, and one recording of the Cadwalader choir each month.

Weil's dominance at restructuring work pretty much went out the door when Harvey left. Additionally, Weil lost Zirinsky, Ball, Leake, Basta, Rapasardi, Palmer, and Davis (don't know who Troop is). Some of them were Weil's next generation of stars (Ball, Zirinsky, Basta, Leake, Davis). Other than the current co-heads and Miller, I can't think of any other Weil partner who is well known and a rising star in the restructuring world. Associates have been fleeing as well (this is just what I've heard). Once Weil stops deluding itself from thinking that they've been conflicted out of every major debtor case in the last 5 years and starts focusing on why Kirkland and Skadden have been killing them over the past few years, they'll compete better. Harvey will absolutely help but its unclear whether he will bring them back to where they once were. The current departure of these four is clearly not helpful to the situation.

Hi Anon March 13: can you explain what you mean by "Weil stops deluding itself from thinking that they've been conflicted out of every major debtor case in the last 5 years"? My understanding is that 11 U.S.C. 327(a) and case law is really straightforward, a conflict is what it is and there can be no delusion. Are you saying that some law firms interpret the simple definition of a conflict: "when a debtor's professional firm having a duty to be adverse to a particular party in a bankruptcy case also has same party as a client in a different matter, either previously, or (worse) concurrently" - in a manner that either gives such law firm a competitive advantage or disadvantage? If you say so, it sounds like some U.S. Trustees are not doing their job and/or there are false declarations being filed by some bankruptcy professionals. Are you aware of the death threat advice communicated by a bankruptcy lawyer while attempting to thwart an examination of conflict of interest vis a vis claims trading in Weil Gotshal and Manges' famously lucrative Worldcom bankruptcy case as described here: http://www.bankruptcymisconduct.com/site/content/view/12/30/

How can we pretend to be surprised that the link between Eliot Spitzer and one wing of an organized crime Neo-Mafia which he protected was exposed. Surely, the Prostitution Ring was tiny compared to the Bankruptcy Ring which Spitzer protected by, among other things, failing to investigate or prosecute the death threat made in the Worldcom / MCI case. Only a special prosecutor will have the authority to let Eliot Spitzer trade jail time for names & dates. No pun intended.

Well, Well, more defections at Weil Gotshal. And this time they've all made public statements trying to spin the reason. Nope, not a "conflict of interest" excuse. But seriously, is anybody getting nervous over there? I mean, just because a former U.S. Attorney was secretly and successfully investigated with wiretaps and one or two complete stakeout crews doesn't mean anything. No significance there ... other than it's a big joke to think that even $100,000 in wire transfers would be in any way suspicious for a man who not only makes several million per year, but is part of a $500 Million dollar family dynasty. Eliot Spitzer was the state governor. Come on people, why was he being investigated? We all know that no judge would sign warrants for a wiretap on Spitzer solely because the sub-billionaire multi-millionare made a few wire transfers. Even mid tier yuppies make wire transfers like that for vacations, Au Pairs, graduation gifts, country club dues, donations, etc. etc. Can't anyone just come up with a rational explanation? Haven't any of you ever watch the Sopranos? Hey associates and partners, it's never too late to cut a deal. Why sit there like a fool while others are jumping ship, others are undoubtedly coming forward and cutting their own deals. It will be too late when a Special Prosecutor gets appointed. Geez, you should know better than outsiders what the people you work with are like. They sure ain't your brothers from basic training willing to take one to save YOUR ass. Key the Jeopardy game show music. Dah Dah - Dah Dah - Dah Dah Dah ..... Where are you going to be when the music stops?