Weil Gotshal & Manges has started holding selected departing equity partners to ten year capital repayment plans, Legal Week has learned.

The move, which industry sources have called unprecedented, is understood to be applied in cases where partners are leaving for competitors, and is not a binding requirement for all senior lawyers exiting the US-headquartered firm.

Though Weil said it has not changed its repayment policy – which is to return partner capital within five years – former and current partners have told Legal Week that provision to waive the policy has been exercised in a number of instances for the first time in the last year. The decision came in the wake of a major restructuring of the firm's business, announced last summer.