## KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Weil, Gotshal & Manges appointed Peter Feist, a veteran M&A lawyer with 25+ years of experience, as partner and U.S. Co-Head of Private Equity, returning to the firm from Cravath, Swaine & Moore where he headed the private equity practice.
- Feist joins Kyle Krpata and Ramona Nee as co-leads of Weil's U.S. Private Equity practice, part of a strategic expansion that reflects the firm's broader commitment to strengthening its transactional capabilities.
- His appointment marks the eighth return of a former Weil partner to the firm in 2026 and follows recent lateral hires of private equity partners Jonathan Stott and Michael Hanna in San Francisco.
- Weil has recruited more than 50 lateral partners since the start of 2025, signaling aggressive investment in its private equity platform and cross-disciplinary M&A capabilities spanning M&A, finance, capital markets, tax, and restructuring.
## DETAILED SUMMARY
Weil, Gotshal & Manges elevated Peter Feist to partner and U.S. Co-Head of Private Equity, capitalizing on his deep expertise in complex sponsor transactions and his established relationships within the firm. Feist brings more than 25 years of transactional experience spanning leveraged buyouts, public and private acquisitions, take-private transactions, minority and structured investments, recapitalizations, and exits. His return from Cravath, Swaine & Moore—where he served as Head of Private Equity—reflects a deliberate strategy by Weil to deepen its presence in one of law's most lucrative practice areas.
The appointment positions Feist alongside existing co-heads Kyle Krpata and Ramona Nee and underscores Weil's broader platform-building ambitions. The firm recently bolstered its San Francisco presence with lateral additions of private equity partners Jonathan Stott and Michael Hanna, while simultaneously promoting Krpata and Michael Lubowitz to Co-Chairs of the Corporate Department. Feist's hiring represents the eighth boomerang partner to rejoin the firm during 2026, a metric that suggests Weil maintains strong alumni networks and institutional reputation among senior practitioners.
Weil's private equity expansion reflects competitive dynamics in elite M&A markets, where law firms compete aggressively for lateral talent to maintain integrated capabilities. The firm has attracted over 50 lateral partners since the beginning of 2025, with leadership indicating additional hires are in pipeline. Feist's experience leading a full-service private equity practice and his existing relationships across Weil's platform position him to accelerate client development and leverage the firm's multidisciplinary offerings in M&A, finance, capital markets, tax, executive compensation, antitrust, restructuring, and disputes.
