Why Weil collapsed and what it means for Big Law with Yale Law School professor John Morley

Weil was still generating more than $2 billion a year when its partnership unravelled. Yale Law School professor John Morley says that its collapse was driven not by financial distress, but by a decline in profitability relative to its closest rivals and a failure to choose between scale and a smaller, more elite model.

Morley’s paper Why Law Firms Collapse examined around three dozen failures and identified a recurring “run on the partnership”. Because partners own the business and can leave with their clients, the departure of one productive partner reduces the profits available to everyone who remains - making the next departure more attractive.

The conversation explores why superstar partners can make firms more fragile, how widening pay gaps have weakened traditional partnership cultures and why a merger may be the best escape route for a formerly elite firm losing ground.

Morley also considers the lessons for London firms, the challenge facing private equity investors and what law firm leaders should watch for before a partner run becomes