Like a real-life episode of Suits, the demise of famed white-shoe Wall Street law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges has been the talk of the legal industry this week. And now, Silicon Valley has entered the picture.
Two-year old AI-first law firm Crosby has put in a bid to buy some of the assets of Weil Gotshal, including its trademark, its brand, and some unspecified internal data, TechCrunch has confirmed. Separately, it is also working to hire some of the firm’s 1,200 lawyers. The Information was first to report this offer.
The once-prestigious Weil Gotshal confirmed to the New York Times this week that it was preparing to vote on dissolution in the coming days. The wind down is happening after the firm’s presumed leadership heir apparent turned down the role, a number of its top-producing lawyers left, and a hoped for merger with its rival, Willkie Farr & Gallagher, was shelved, the Times reported.
Meanwhile, Crosby’s founders believe they are the future of law firms. Rather than selling their internally developed AI tech to existing firms like Harvey or Legora, Crosby is an actual law firm. It uses its AI to provide legal services at, the startup promises, a speed never before possible.
The startup has raised about $85 million, including a $60 million Series B round in March led by Lux and Index, with participation from its seed-lead Sequoia, Elad Gil, 01 Advisors, and Bain Capital Ventures. Crosby came out of stealth mode in 2025 armed with $5.8 million in seed money.
While no one has pointed to the rise of legal AI as a contributing factor to Weil Gotshal’s downfall, AI may be key to the legal industry’s future. Terms of the bid weren’t disclosed and there’s no guarantee that Crosby will prevail. But if it does, Weil Gotshal’s legacy could somehow rise from the ashes, transformed by an AI-first firm.
Source: techcrunch.com
