Three current trainees and five future joiners offered lifeline
US law firm Sullivan & Cromwell has stepped in to rescue eight current and future trainees from Weil’s London office, as partners at the stricken firm formally approve plans to wind down the business.
The move will see three current trainees and five future joiners, who had been due to start in 2027, make the switch to SullCrom, offering a welcome lifeline to junior lawyers and aspiring solicitors whose careers were thrown into uncertainty following Weil’s shock collapse.
The eight recruits will join SullCrom in addition to its existing trainee intake, with the move understood not to affect anyone already undertaking a training contract or holding an offer to join the firm.
The Legal Cheek Firms Most List 2027 shows that SullCrom typically recruits around 15 trainees annually in London, offering a market-topping starting salary of £70,000.
The development follows confirmation last week that fellow US heavyweight Latham & Watkins had taken on five current trainees from Weil’s London office, bringing the total number of trainees and future joiners known to have secured new homes at the two firms to 13.
The two firms are among a wider group of leading US and City outfits that have offered support to Weil’s future trainees, including adjustments to their recruitment processes to accommodate students whose training contracts will no longer go ahead.
Weil previously recruited approximately 15 trainees each year in London, meaning roughly 30 rookies were working their way through their two-year training contracts when the firm’s troubles came to a head.
Meanwhile, Weil’s closure is now officially moving ahead after partners backed plans to wind down the 95-year-old US firm in a vote on Tuesday.
Responsibility for overseeing the process will fall to a committee made up of the firm’s general counsel Robert Carangelo, tax partner Paul Wessel and independent director Patricia Ferrari. Bloomberg Law reports that Barry Wolf, Weil’s longstanding executive partner and chair, will also provide guidance as the firm prepares to shut down.
The decision comes after Weil’s management committee recommended closure last month, following a turbulent period marked by a string of high-profile partner exits, unsuccessful attempts to secure a merger and uncertainty over the firm’s leadership.
The City of London Law Society has previously pledged to support those affected by the collapse, expressing particular concern for trainees and junior lawyers whose futures have been thrown into doubt.