Ed. note: Welcome to our daily feature, Quote of the Day.
There’s just not much holding those organizations together.
— Janet Stanton, a legal consultant, speaking to Reuters about why even profitable law firms can unravel quickly. Weil brought in $2.1 billion in revenue last year and had average profits per partner of $5.6 million, but a wave of partner departures accelerated after corporate practice chief Michael Aiello announced plans to join Cravath with five other partners. Yale Law professor John Morley, who studied 37 law firm failures, said Weil’s collapse followed a familiar script, from a key rainmaker leaving to merger talks failing. Stanton pointed to another problem: lawyers’ tendency to be “insecure overachievers,” quick to react to bad news by leaving instead of trying to fix things.
Staci Zaretsky is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.
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