Crosby, an AI Law Firm With $85 Million Raised, Bids for Weil Gotshal's Name as the 1,200-Lawyer Firm Winds Down

Crosby, a two-year-old law firm that delivers legal work with its own AI software, has bid for the trademark, brand and some internal data of Weil, Gotshal & Manges, TechCrunch reported on Friday, Oct. 30. The bid terms are not public, and TechCrunch said Crosby is not guaranteed to win.

The Information reported the bid first. TechCrunch said it confirmed the bid independently, and that Crosby is also working to hire some of Weil's roughly 1,200 lawyers. This is a bid, not an agreement: no price, no counterparty acceptance and no list of lawyers has been published.

What Weil has said about its own wind-down

On Wednesday, Oct. 28, Reuters reported that Weil's management committee had recommended to partners an "orderly wind-down." Reuters said AlixPartners, a restructuring advisory firm, is advising, and that Weil intends to finish outside bankruptcy. Associates and staff will keep getting paid for 90 days and will receive year-end bonuses, according to Reuters.

The firm had named private equity partner Ramona Nee in March to succeed executive partner Barry Wolf, and Nee has since decided not to take the role. A merger with Willkie Farr & Gallagher collapsed, and Weil hired Davis Polk & Wardwell for restructuring help. TechCrunch, citing the New York Times, said Weil confirmed it was preparing to vote on dissolution within days.

Departure	Destination	Detail
Michael Aiello, corporate department chair	Cravath, Swaine & Moore	Took five partners
Christopher Machera, private equity partner	Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison	One partner
Two London-based mergers partners	Sullivan & Cromwell	Two partners

Source: Reuters, Oct. 28, 2026. Other lawyers left for Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and other firms, per Reuters.

Crosby's $85 million against Weil's $2 billion

Crosby emerged from stealth in 2025 with a $5.8 million seed round led by Sequoia. It raised a $60 million Series B in March 2026, led by Lux and Index, with Elad Gil, 01 Advisors and Bain Capital Ventures also in the round, according to TechCrunch. The company has raised about $85 million in total.

Those two rounds add up to $65.8 million, so roughly $19 million of the total sits in financing the TechCrunch piece does not itemise. Crosby's valuation has not been disclosed in the article.

Reuters put Weil's revenue at more than $2 billion in 2025 and its average profit per equity partner at about $5.4 million, roughly half the figure at Kirkland & Ellis and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Crosby's total funding is about 4 percent of that a single year of Weil revenue. A bid for a name and a data set is affordable on that scale. Paying for 1,200 lawyers is not.

1. Seed (2025)5.8 $M
2. Series B (March 2026)60 $M
3. Total raised, as reported85 $M

Source: TechCrunch, Oct. 30, 2026

Why a law firm and not a vendor is the buyer

Harvey and Legora sell AI tools to law firms. Crosby is itself a law firm, which means it can hire the lawyers and hold the client relationships that a software vendor cannot. Its co-founders, John Sarihan and Ryan Daniels, call it "the future of law firms," per TechCrunch.

TechCrunch said no one has attributed Weil's collapse to legal AI. The Reuters account points to partner departures and a failed merger, and it puts Weil's size near that of Dewey & LeBoeuf, which collapsed in 2012.

The filter on this story is the vote. If Weil's partners approve dissolution, the trademark and data become assets someone has to sell, and Crosby's bid will either be accepted or sit beside others. Neither Weil nor Crosby has said when that happens.

Related: Mintive raised a $7 million seed to control what company AI agents can touch, and Thrive Holdings' $15.3 billion ADT purchase is the other deal this week in which an AI-led buyer is acquiring an established business.