Weil, Gotshal & Manges is the latest Big Law firm to announce its new partner class, with the Am Law 50 firm stating on Tuesday that it has promoted 17 lawyers to partner, roughly the same total as its previous two partner classes. And like other elite firms, many of them are in corporate practices, with some in banking, litigation and tax practices as well. Weil promoted a similar number of partners last year and the year before, announcing 18 new partners in 2024 and 16 in 2023. The latest batch of Weil partner promotions, effective Jan. 1, are for lawyers located in New York (4), London (4), Paris (3), Washington, D.C. (2), and Boston, Dallas, Silicon Valley and Munich (1 each). “Our 17 new partners have earned (clients') trust through years of dedication and commitment to legal excellence," said Weil executive partner Barry Wolf in a statement. In a year of demand, revenue and profit growth, plenty of Am Law 100 firms have made larger, near-record, or even record classes in 2025. Last week, Willkie, Farr & Gallagher announced a partner class of 30, after promoting about 19 the year before. Firm chair Thomas Cerabino said the new partners "embody Willkie’s commitment to excellent client service and will be important contributors as we continue to expand our global platform.” Winston & Strawn also announced last week a new partner class of 18, roughly in line with 20 the previous year and 16 promotions the year before. “Their diverse practices and global reach position us to deliver innovative solutions wherever opportunities and challenges arise for our clients,” firm chair Steve D’Amore said in a statement. Also last week, Perkins Coie, days after announcing the firm's intentions to merge with Ashurst, announced it had promoted 29 lawyers to partner, effective Jan. 1, up from its new partner class of 23 this past year. Looking at other partner promotions in the past month, McDermott Will & Schulte announced a record partnership class after completing a merger earlier this year, promoting 74 associates to partner. Kirkland & Ellis promoted at least 225 lawyers to partnership, a firm record, although the firm declined to comment on the exact number. Ropes & Gray also announced a class of 21 new partners—all equity—a near-record for the firm, and White & Case named its largest promotion round in three years, bringing in 45 new lawyers to the partnership. Some firms have also added large classes of new associates, despite advances and investment in AI, with firms such as Freshfields adding its largest-ever U.S.-based first-year class, and Sullivan & Cromwell and Kirkland adding triple-digit numbers of associates. Although firms are poised for a “pretty good” or even “great” year financially, bank reports say, rising costs are a concern, and one of the major sources of costs is headcount growth and lawyer compensation. One of the most recent statements on topic, from Wells Fargo’s Legal Specialty Group, noted that total expenses grew 9.9% through the third quarter, up from a 7.2% clip at the same time in 2024. The most significant component of that is lawyer compensation, which was “up sharply,” increasing 10.3% compared with 6.4% in the prior year. “Lawyer growth and higher leverage, especially leverage from the more expensive nonequity partners, contributed to the acceleration in costs this year,” the report stated.