AI legal startup Crosby bids for pieces of Weil Gotshal

The Information reported that a two-year-old AI legal startup has bid for pieces of a 95-year-old firm. Crosby submitted a bid for some of the assets of Weil, Gotshal and Manges, the outlet said. Weil is the New York corporate firm that handled the Lehman Brothers and Enron bankruptcies. The Information described Crosby as a startup "whose lawyers use AI to speed up contract review and other legal tasks."

Weil's management committee recommended an orderly wind-down on 28 October, Bloomberg Law reported. The firm had around $2.1 billion in revenue the year before. It ranked among the thirty largest law firms in the United States. Bloomberg Law said corporate department leader Michael Aiello left for Cravath, Swaine and Moore in September. Merger talks with Willkie Farr and Gallagher then collapsed. Davis Polk is advising on the wind-down.

Who Crosby is

Crosby was founded in September 2024 by Ryan Daniels and John Sarihan, Contrary Research says on its company page. Crosby is a registered law firm that carries malpractice insurance, Contrary reports. That means Crosby answers for the contracts its lawyers approve. Fixed per-contract fees replace billable hours. Reported prices were $250 to $1,000 per contract as of March 2026.

Crosby raised a $60 million Series B in March, Contrary Research reports. The round was co-led by Index Ventures and Lux Capital at a $400 million valuation. Total funding came to $85.8 million across three rounds. As of October 2026, Contrary says the firm employed 102 people. More than fifty of them are licensed attorneys. Named clients include Cursor, Clay, Cognition, Cartesia and Tishman Speyer. Crosby itself says it has reviewed contracts worth more than one billion dollars for its customers.

What the bid is, and what it is not

The Information did not publish the bid size. It did not name the specific assets Crosby wants. It did not say who else is bidding. Weil has not accepted anything yet.

The hole in the story matters. A bid is a letter, not a sale. The main buyers for a wind-down are usually other law firms. They pick up partners and client books. Crosby is a registered law firm too. That is why it can even submit the bid. The ownership rules that stop a software company from buying a Big Law practice do not stop Crosby.

What is new is a buyer at this stage. A $400 million startup is reaching for pieces of a firm with $2.1 billion in revenue. That is not a story people told about legal services ten years ago. Buyers of corporate legal work now have a new kind of choice. One side is a 95-year-old firm with departing partners. The other is a two-year-old firm with a system that reviews a contract in under an hour. One of those answers is a software bet dressed as a law firm.

Source

• Legal AI Startup Bids for Assets of Fallen Law Firm Weil Gotshal, The Information, Valida Pau
• Weil Gotshal to Wind Down in Shock Fall for Heavyweight Firm, Bloomberg Law, Roy Strom
• Crosby company breakdown, Contrary Research