Only three months after announcing a massive layoff, Weil Gotshal & Manges is seeing the voluntary departure of nine of its partners—all from its Dallas office.

Seven partners, plus two former Weil national practice co-chairs, are jumping ship.  Eight of the partners are heading to Sidley Austin. Yvette Ostolaza, Penny Reid, Vance Beagles, Angela Zambrano, Yolanda Cornejo Garcia and Michelle Hartmann will be working in Sidley's commercial litigation group. Two other Weil partners—Angela Fontana and Kelly M. Dybala—will be joining Sidley's private equity practice.

“We've been thinking seriously about expanding our Dallas office,” Sidley chairman Carter Phillips told the Wall Street Journal Law Blog yesterday. “But if this group had shown up at any of our offices we would have been equally enthusiastic.”

Michael Saslow, the ninth Weil partner, is heading over to the Dallas office of Vinson & Elkins.

In June, the 1,200-lawyer New York-based Weil announced it would cut 60 associate lawyers (about 7 percent of all associates) and 110 staff employees. In addition, about 10 percent of the firm's 300 partners saw serious reductions in their compensation, with some partners losing hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Phillips told the Law Blog that none of the partners that are leaving for Sidley had been targeted as part of those cuts. “I do think it probably raised some concerns on their part about Weil's commitment to practices outside of New York,” he added.

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Only three months after announcing a massive layoff, Weil Gotshal & Manges is seeing the voluntary departure of nine of its partners—all from its Dallas office.

Seven partners, plus two former Weil national practice co-chairs, are jumping ship.  Eight of the partners are heading to Sidley Austin. Yvette Ostolaza, Penny Reid, Vance Beagles, Angela Zambrano, Yolanda Cornejo Garcia and Michelle Hartmann will be working in Sidley's commercial litigation group. Two other Weil partners—Angela Fontana and Kelly M. Dybala—will be joining Sidley's private equity practice.

“We've been thinking seriously about expanding our Dallas office,” Sidley chairman Carter Phillips told the Wall Street Journal Law Blog yesterday. “But if this group had shown up at any of our offices we would have been equally enthusiastic.”

Michael Saslow, the ninth Weil partner, is heading over to the Dallas office of Vinson & Elkins.

In June, the 1,200-lawyer New York-based Weil announced it would cut 60 associate lawyers (about 7 percent of all associates) and 110 staff employees. In addition, about 10 percent of the firm's 300 partners saw serious reductions in their compensation, with some partners losing hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Phillips told the Law Blog that none of the partners that are leaving for Sidley had been targeted as part of those cuts. “I do think it probably raised some concerns on their part about Weil's commitment to practices outside of New York,” he added.

See more recent InsideCounsel news about law firms:

Price, service among key reasons why clients fire law firms

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Making alternative fee arrangements work

Companies look for new ways to control litigation costs