Weil’s New York-based private equity co-head Christopher Machera is leaving the firm, just 18 months after he was appointed to a new-look leadership team.
Machera, who is understood to be joining Paul Weiss in New York, is recognised as a Legal 500 leading partner for high-value PE buyouts.
He has spent the majority of his career at Weil, joining as an associate in 2005. Between 2011 and 2016 he spent just over four years as associate general counsel and vice president at Goldman Sachs, subsequently returning to Weil as a partner.
During his time at Weil, Machera has advised Goldman on a number of major deals, including acting for Goldman Sachs Alternatives on its $1.7bn acquisition of a majority stake in plumbing and electrical services company Sila Services in 2024. He has also advised PE houses such as Blackstone, TPG and CVC.
He was appointed to Weil’s management committee in February 2025, as the firm unveiled a new governance structure ahead of the retirement of long-serving executive partner Barry Wolf at the end of 2027.
That shakeup saw him named to a new ‘global leadership and strategy committee’ alongside a line-up of the firm’s most influential partners – corporate chair Michael Aiello, global litigation co-chair John Neuwirth and former restructuring co-chair Gary Holtzer in New York, London-based PE co-head Marco Compagnoni and Washington DC office co-head Chantale Fiebig.
At the same time, the firm also appointed two managing partners – US PE co-head and Boston office co-head Ramona Nee and private funds partner Jonathon Soler – specifying that the duo would spend approximately 75% of their time on their practice and 25% of their time on their responsibilities as managing partner.
Nee, who is also ranked as a leading partner for high-value PE deals, was named as Wolf’s successor as executive partner, and will assume the role from the start of 2027, with a year of overlap with Wolf to smooth the transition, while Soler will become the firm’s sole managing partner.
Weil has seen a number of PE partners exit the firm over the last year, including New York partner Robert Rizzo, who left last month to become co-chair of the PE group at McDermott Will & Schulte, and Houston partner Chris Bennett, who moved to Vinson & Elkins in Houston last year.
At the same time, the firm has also made notable hires, rehiring New York M&A partner Iliana Karaoglan in New York after a one-year stint at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, and bringing in IP litigators Chris Henry and Gaby LaHatte from Latham & Watkins last September, in Boston and San Francisco respectively.
Weil has made additions to its PE team in Europe as well, hiring two former Latham partners in Germany including Sebastian Pauls, who joined as co-managing partner of its German offices last October.
The firm also rehired PE partner Kamyar Abrar as co-head of its German PE group in February, who spent six years as co-managing partner of Willkie, Farr & Gallagher’s German offices. Karaoglan and Abrar’s return to the firm marks around 20 partners who have rejoined Weil since January 2025.
Weil said in a statement: ‘Weil is on track to achieve both record revenue and profitability in 2026 that will result in a very significant increase in profits per equity partner. This is a direct result of the firm’s deliberate growth strategy focused on the practices and markets where it has long been a leader, including the addition of more than 50 lateral partners since the beginning of 2025.’
‘The firm’s strength continues to be rooted in the depth of its platform and the elite quality of its lawyers and its collaborative partnership, and those fundamentals remain unwavering,’ it concluded.
