• Kamyar Abrar will join forces with Sebastian Pauls to create Germany’s most dynamic private equity leadership team and lead a new vanguard of corporate dealmaking.
• Kamyar is a highly influential private equity lawyer having built a formidable, sponsor-side practice in Germany advising some of the world’s most respected private equity funds.
• The news comes three months after Sebastian Pauls, one of Germany’s top PE lawyers, joined Weil from Latham, bringing a team including partners Susanne Decker, Andreas Holzgreve and counsel Julia Schöfer. The move was seen as a game changer for the German legal market and a generational shift in private equity lawyering in Germany and law firm leadership at the very highest levels.
• Kamyar is the 17th partner to rejoin Weil since the start of 2023 as the Firm sees an influx of partners driven by Weil’s culture of excellence. Kamyar will join from Willkie Farr where he was Germany Co-Managing partner.

FRANKFURT, 10 FEBRUARY 2026: International law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP today announced the further expansion of its European private equity group with the arrival of Kamyar Abrar, who will join the Firm to co-lead Weil’s Private Equity practice in Germany. He is the 17th partner to rejoin Weil since the start of 2023.

“Kamyar is one of Germany’s foremost private equity lawyers and an exceptionally talented client advisor. We are delighted to welcome him back to Weil,” said Weil Executive Partner Barry Wolf.

Sebastian Pauls, Co-Managing Partner of Weil’s German offices and Co-Head of the German Private Equity group said, “This was a clear and natural choice for us both. Kamyar is one of the finest lawyers in the market and he will immediately scale our capabilities on large, complex and strategic private equity deals, helping to drive our next phase of growth.”

Weil’s Global Co-Head of Private Equity, Marco Compagnoni said, “Kamyar is one of Germany’s most acclaimed and sought-after private equity and M&A lawyers, advising on complex, big-ticket European and US cross-border transactions. We could not be happier to have him join our top team in Europe. Our plan remains unchanged: to build the preeminent global private equity platform with the brightest minds.”

Kamyar Abrar added, “I’m extremely excited to be teaming up with Sebastian and the other partners in Germany. It was a natural decision to return to the Weil platform, given its shared commitment of collaboration and delivering the highest-quality legal service to the top sponsors globally.”

Weil has added substantial firepower to its private equity team across Europe. In addition to Germany, in London the Firm hired secondaries partner Simon Saitowitz who acted on the five largest European GP-led transactions in 2025. The Firm also promoted five new Private Equity partners in London and Paris.

About Weil’s Private Equity Practice

Weil's Private Equity practice is a global market leader formed of some the most influential and industry-defining practitioners who work across every area of the private equity spectrum, including buyouts, growth, technology, secondaries and credit. Our clients are the largest, most high-profile private equity funds, sovereign wealth funds and pension funds, as well as family offices and other financial investors. Weil advises more than 300 private equity clients worldwide, including over 70% of the top 20 largest global private equity funds (PEI 300 2025).

About Weil’s German Offices

Weil’s Frankfurt and Munich offices are part of Weil’s global offering providing seamless support to domestic and international clients, handling both sophisticated cross-border transactions and multi-jurisdictional disputes. Our remarkably diverse client base is engaged in various industries and includes some of the world's leading financial institutions as well as many major international corporations. Weil’s German offices have positioned themselves as one of the premier practices in the country, in particular for Private Equity and M&A transactions as well as for Restructuring. Our German team also focus on Dispute Resolution, Finance, Tax, Antitrust and Employment.

About Weil

Founded in 1931, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP has been a preeminent provider of legal services for more than 90 years. With approximately 1,200 lawyers in offices on three continents, Weil has been a pioneer in the marketplace and a first mover in the establishment of many significant practice areas. The Firm’s four departments, Corporate, Litigation, Restructuring, and Tax, Executive Compensation & Benefits, and more than two dozen practice groups are consistently recognized as leaders in their respective fields.