Kamyar Abrar is set to join Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP as co-leader of the firm’s Private Equity practice in Germany. He will work alongside Sebastian Pauls, who joined Weil three months ago from Latham & Watkins with a team that included partners Susanne Decker and Andreas Holzgreve, and counsel Julia Schöfer.
Abrar returns to Weil after serving as Germany Co-Managing Partner at Willkie Farr. He becomes the 17th partner to rejoin the firm since early 2023.
Barry Wolf, Executive Partner at Weil, commented, “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.”
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.”
Marco Compagnoni, Global Co-Head of Private Equity at Weil, stated, “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.”
Abrar said about his return: “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 recently expanded its private equity team across Europe. In London, it hired Simon Saitowitz as secondaries partner; Saitowitz advised on five major GP-led transactions in 2025. The firm also promoted five new Private Equity partners in London and Paris.
Weil’s Private Equity practice advises more than 300 clients worldwide—including over 70% of the top 20 largest global private equity funds—and works across areas such as buyouts, technology investments, secondaries transactions and credit.
The Frankfurt and Munich offices handle domestic and international matters including cross-border transactions and disputes for financial institutions as well as multinational corporations.
Weil was founded in 1931 and currently employs approximately 1,200 lawyers across offices on three continents.