AI law firms circle Weil’s assets and lawyers as it winds down

Weil's collapse has attracted interest from a new group of potential buyers, with AI-powered legal businesses looking to acquire the firm's intellectual property, technology and legal talent.

Vetta, Scissero and Crosby are among the businesses exploring opportunities arising from the 95-year-old Wall Street firm's wind-down.

AI firms move in

Crosby, a US-based AI-native law firm founded two years ago, has submitted a bid to acquire some of Weil's assets, including internal data, its trademark and brand. The company is also interested in recruiting some of Weil's lawyers.

Meanwhile, Vetta, a London-based AI-native law firm founded in September by former Latham lawyer Nic Vetta, is understood to be interested in Weil's legal precedents, playbooks, knowledge management infrastructure and associated technology.

The company sees an opportunity to preserve elements of Weil's institutional legal knowledge and bring them into a new model of legal services. Vetta is also interested in speaking with Weil lawyers who may be attracted to a different way of practising law.

Scissero, another UK-based AI-native law firm, submitted a bid for some of Weil's assets on Sunday, founder and CEO Mathias Strasser told Non-Billable.

The firm is considering acquiring Weil’s technology and data assets, or potentially its DealVision360 platform, an AI-powered tool that analyses private equity deal terms and provides market insights drawn from the firm's transaction data.

Scissero has experience acquiring legal AI businesses, having bought Robin AI's managed services arm last year.

Strasser said any useful data acquired from Weil could be combined with Scissero's existing resources to accelerate the development of a new, fully agentic product that would operate without lawyers routinely involved in the process.

The company has also begun speaking with Weil partners about joining the business, particularly those with established client relationships who could help it expand into transactional work.

“If you want to go upmarket from where we are,” Strasser explained, “you can't really break in if you're not already there.”

Scissero currently employs around 120 lawyers, operating as a regulated law firm in the UK and New York, with its UK alternative business structure allowing it to accept outside investment.

It is not yet clear which assets Weil could sell. Any buyer would need to distinguish between the firm’s own knowledge and technology and confidential client material, with any transfer subject to ownership rights and professional obligations.

A different model

The interest comes as AI-native firms look to challenge the traditional law firm model, using technology to automate work historically carried out by large teams of junior lawyers.

Vetta believes the shift could appeal to experienced partners who want to spend more time advising clients and less time managing large teams.

“In our model a lawyer’s value lies in judgement and client relationships, while AI does much of the volume work. There are no billable hour targets and no leverage pyramid to feed,” he told Non-Billable.

He said lawyers whose careers are built around client relationships and judgement could find the transition relatively natural, while those accustomed to managing large associate teams might find it more difficult.

“Weil’s lawyers are some of the best trained in the market, and I expect a number of them will want to practise differently after this.”

Strasser said Scissero could appeal to partners who might otherwise join firms such as Fried Frank or Kirkland, but who want the opportunity to build a different vision.

“We want lawyers that are closer to the AI revolution,” he said.

What Weil leaves behind

Weil's management committee recommended winding down the firm last week following months of senior partner departures in the US and London.

The decision marked a dramatic reversal for one of Wall Street's best-known law firms, which generated more than $2 billion in revenue last year and reported average partner profits exceeding $5 million.

Rivals including Simpson Thacher, Sullivan & Cromwell and Cravath have recruited senior partners and teams from Weil across corporate, restructuring and private equity.

A warning for Big Law

For Vetta, Weil's demise also raises questions about whether the traditional Big Law partnership model is becoming more vulnerable as technology changes the economics of legal services.

“Weil was not failing financially. It came apart following the departure of leading partners, and once enough had left, the rest had little reason to stay,” Vetta said. “That exposes a structural weakness in the current model.”

Vetta believes AI could accelerate the fragmentation of large law firms by allowing partners to operate with less of the infrastructure and junior lawyer leverage on which traditional firms depend.

“Today, a partner who brings in work asks which firm will pay them most. Before long, more will ask whether they need a large firm at all.”