Cravath And Weil Are Just Trading Partners At This Point

Peter Feist, the head of Cravath’s private equity practice, is going back to Weil, where he spent nearly 20 years before leaving for Cravath in 2023. He’ll be US co-head of private equity.This lateral merry-go-round is getting dizzying.Three weeks ago, corporate chair Michael Aiello left Weil for Cravath with five M&A partners, a move Weil pointedly described as a jump to “a smaller platform.” Last week, Paul Weiss helped itself to Weil’s private equity co-head and three more lawyers. Weil has now filled that hole with the man running private equity at Cravath, who used to run a piece of it at Weil.Executive partner Barry Wolf called Feist “an exceptional private equity lawyer” and a “longtime friend and colleague to many of us at Weil.” Ramona Nee, who succeeds Wolf as executive partner, leaned into it harder — Feist “has chosen to come home to Weil,” and his return “reflects the scale of our ambitions and our commitment to investing in the best talent.”Cravath in a statement said, “We wish Peter well in his future endeavors.”That’s the standard-issue Biglaw goodbye that wishes the defector well and says absolutely nothing, which is precisely what Weil couldn’t bring itself to do when Aiello walked out the door. Turns out there was a graceful option available the entire time.Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Bluesky @Kathryn1 For more of the latest in litigation, regulation, deals and financial services trends, sign up for Finance Docket, a partnership between Breaking Media publications Above the Law and Dealbreaker.