Kirkland Adds 40 Lawyers From Weil as Weil's Chosen Leader Steps Back

Kirkland & Ellis said on November 6, 2026 that it had added 40 lawyers across its private equity/M&A and debt finance practices. The group is led by private equity and M&A partners Ramona Nee, Jakub Wronski and Emily Willey. Kirkland's press release describes Nee as one of the leading private equity lawyers in the U.S. and credits her with more than 25 years of experience.

The team came from Weil Gotshal, and its headline partner is the lawyer Weil had picked to run the firm. In March, Weil elected Nee, a private equity partner, to take over firm leadership in January 2027, according to the Wall Street Journal. She was to replace Barry Wolf, who had led the firm for 16 years and was retiring from the executive partner role. Nee has since withdrawn from that role after merger talks fell apart, the WSJ reported in a November opinion piece.

The timing matters for anyone following the firm. A November 3 report in Law.com said Kirkland was close to hiring Nee along with a team of about 20 lawyers. The announced figure of 40 is roughly double that earlier number, which suggests the group grew between the early report and the formal announcement.

Kirkland's website describes Nee as co-managing partner of the firm, co-head of its U.S. private equity practice and co-managing partner of its Boston office. Those roles now sit alongside a move to a rival firm. Her recognitions include Forbes America's Top Women Lawyers for 2026 and Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly's Top Women of Law for 2024.

The broader question for practitioners is less about one partner than about the books of business that travel with a lateral team. Private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies tend to follow the lawyers who run their deal flow and financing. A 40-lawyer team spanning private equity, M&A and debt finance covers much of the work a sponsor relies on from signing through financing. The announcements do not say whether clients will move with the team, and that will be the real test of how portable the practice is.

The leadership question is the second thread. A firm that has just lost its named successor, after a planned handover from a long-serving leader, faces a governance problem on top of any revenue question. Weil's merger talks, which the November WSJ opinion piece says fell apart, were the other route the firm had been pursuing.

Two points are worth keeping apart. What has been reported as completed: the Kirkland announcement, the 40-lawyer count, and Nee's withdrawal from the Weil leadership role. What remains open: how many of the 40 lawyers were Weil partners, whether client relationships transfer with them, and who leads Weil through its next phase. Anyone modeling the effect on Weil's private equity franchise should treat the second list as unresolved rather than priced in.

For now, the headline number is 40 and the headline name is Nee. The more consequential figure may be how much of the work follows her.