Key Takeaways
- • Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP announced the addition of Jonathan Stott and Michael Hanna as partners in its U.S. Private Equity Group in San Francisco on August 31, 2026, strengthening its California platform.
- • Stott joins from Dechert, where he led the West Coast private equity practice and San Francisco office; Hanna joins from Kirkland, expanding Weil's senior PE talent pool across technology, healthcare, industrials, aerospace, and financial services sectors.
- • Weil now operates 20 partners across California focused on private equity advisory, following the strategic 2024 openings of San Francisco and Los Angeles offices that built on the firm's longstanding Silicon Valley presence.
- • Both partners advise on high-complexity transactions including leveraged acquisitions, carve-outs, divestitures, growth investments, joint ventures, and corporate governance matters for PE sponsors and alternative asset managers.
- • The Bay Area expansion reflects continued institutional focus on California as a premier private equity market, with Weil positioning itself as a market-leading platform for PE clients in the region.
Summary
Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP has accelerated its private equity presence in the Bay Area through the appointment of two senior partners—Jonathan Stott and Michael Hanna—to its U.S. Private Equity Group in San Francisco. The announcement, made on August 31, 2026, represents a strategic deepening of the firm's California footprint at a time when institutional PE activity remains concentrated in major West Coast markets.
Stott brings significant market credentials, having led the West Coast private equity practice at Dechert while simultaneously managing the firm's San Francisco office operations. His practice focuses on representing private equity sponsors, alternative asset managers, and operating companies across mergers and acquisitions, carve-outs, growth investments, joint ventures, and transformative transactions in technology, healthcare, industrials, aerospace, and financial services. Hanna complements this expertise with specialized knowledge in leveraged acquisitions, portfolio company advisory, divestitures, and corporate governance matters for PE sponsors and their portfolio companies.
The hires underscore Weil's deliberate expansion strategy in California, which accelerated with the 2024 openings of dedicated offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles. These additions bring Weil's total partner count focused on private equity advisory across California to 20, significantly expanding the firm's capacity to serve a dense ecosystem of PE sponsors and alternative asset managers. According to Barry Wolf, Weil's Executive Partner, the firm views these appointments as critical to maintaining its position as a premier platform for institutional private equity clients in one of the world's leading markets.
The Bay Area's status as a global center for private equity remains a strategic driver for law firm expansion. Weil's California investments reflect broader institutional recognition that concentrated PE activity, particularly in technology-adjacent and innovation-driven sectors, requires sustained local expertise and partnership-level resources. The dual recruitment from peer firms (Dechert and Kirkland) signals competitive talent dynamics within BigLaw's PE practices and the value placed on West Coast market specialists by major legal platforms seeking to compete for institutional mandates.
Stott brings significant market credentials, having led the West Coast private equity practice at Dechert while simultaneously managing the firm's San Francisco office operations. His practice focuses on representing private equity sponsors, alternative asset managers, and operating companies across mergers and acquisitions, carve-outs, growth investments, joint ventures, and transformative transactions in technology, healthcare, industrials, aerospace, and financial services. Hanna complements this expertise with specialized knowledge in leveraged acquisitions, portfolio company advisory, divestitures, and corporate governance matters for PE sponsors and their portfolio companies.
The hires underscore Weil's deliberate expansion strategy in California, which accelerated with the 2024 openings of dedicated offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles. These additions bring Weil's total partner count focused on private equity advisory across California to 20, significantly expanding the firm's capacity to serve a dense ecosystem of PE sponsors and alternative asset managers. According to Barry Wolf, Weil's Executive Partner, the firm views these appointments as critical to maintaining its position as a premier platform for institutional private equity clients in one of the world's leading markets.
The Bay Area's status as a global center for private equity remains a strategic driver for law firm expansion. Weil's California investments reflect broader institutional recognition that concentrated PE activity, particularly in technology-adjacent and innovation-driven sectors, requires sustained local expertise and partnership-level resources. The dual recruitment from peer firms (Dechert and Kirkland) signals competitive talent dynamics within BigLaw's PE practices and the value placed on West Coast market specialists by major legal platforms seeking to compete for institutional mandates.
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