AI came for the lawyers: a startup wants to buy a Wall Street legend

Weil, Gotshal & Manges spent decades as one of the most prestigious law firms on Wall Street. Now it is falling apart: the presumed heir to the leadership turned the job down, a number of top-earning lawyers left, and a hoped-for merger with rival Willkie Farr & Gallagher was shelved. The firm has confirmed it is preparing to vote on dissolution in the coming days.

A buyer from Silicon Valley is already circling. Crosby, a two-year-old law firm built around AI, has put in a bid for some of Weil's assets: its trademark, its brand and some internal data. At the same time it is working to hire some of the firm's 1,200 lawyers.

The twist is that Crosby doesn't sell AI to other lawyers the way Harvey or Legora do. It is an actual law firm, and it uses its own AI to deliver legal work at what its founders promise is a speed never possible before.

The startup has money. Crosby came out of stealth in 2025 with $5.8 million in seed funding and has raised about $85 million in total, including a $60 million Series B in March led by Lux and Index, with Sequoia, Elad Gil and Bain Capital Ventures taking part.

Terms of the bid weren't disclosed and there's no guarantee Crosby wins. Nobody is claiming AI killed Weil either. But the picture says plenty: a storied firm is sinking, and a two-year-old AI startup wants its name.

Verdict: lawyers used to joke that AI would never replace them. Now AI is pricing their sign.