And just like that(就这样，突然之间), an institution that existed at the apex(顶点，顶峰) of corporate America for nearly a century is more or less(几乎，差不多) finished. Weil, Gotshal & Manges, a firm of lawyers, has suffered what can only be described as a run on the bank(银行挤兑).
就这样，一家在美国企业界顶端屹立近一个世纪的机构，几乎走到了尽头。律师事务所威嘉（Weil, Gotshal & Manges）遭遇了一场只能被形容为“挤兑”的危机。
It started last month when a top mergers(并购) lawyer left for Cravath, Swaine & Moore. Other competitors began lining up(排队) outside the General Motors Building in Manhattan, where Weil is based, trying to hire its lawyers. The committee of partners responsible for saving Weil, no doubt handicapped(受阻碍的，处于不利地位的) by efforts to save themselves, failed to stop the exodus(大批离去，出走). The partner due to take the top job decided she wouldn’t bother. Merger talks collapsed. Weil, which is best known for advising on the bankruptcies of Enron and Lehman Brothers, has now hired bankruptcy lawyers itself and is preparing to wind down(逐步关停，逐渐结束). The balance-sheet of a law firm is a simple combination of office chairs and brains.(律所的资产负债表不过是办公椅和大脑的简单组合。) When the brains start to leave, the end cannot be far away.(当大脑开始流失，终点便不远了。)
事情始于上月，一位顶尖并购律师跳槽至凯易律师事务所（Cravath, Swaine & Moore）。其他竞争对手开始在威嘉所在的曼哈顿通用汽车大厦外排队，试图挖走其律师。负责拯救威嘉的合伙人委员会无疑因忙于自保而力不从心，未能阻止人才外流。即将接任最高职位的合伙人决定不再费心。合并谈判破裂。威嘉曾以处理安然和雷曼兄弟破产案闻名，如今却自己聘请了破产律师，准备逐步关停。律所的资产负债表不过是办公椅和大脑的简单组合。当大脑开始流失，终点便不远了。
Law firms have collapsed before. Fear of being the last partner in a broke partnership means weak ones can disintegrate(瓦解，崩溃) suddenly, as John Morley of Yale has written. Yet never has a name as famous fallen on such hard times so quickly.(然而，从未有如此著名的律所如此迅速地陷入困境。) Weil is, by any measure(无论以何种标准衡量), an extremely successful business: its partners earn, on average, almost $6m a year. The ability of Weil’s lawyers to extract(榨取，获取) enormous fees from their clients is not the problem. Rather, it is the newfound ability of superstar lawyers to extract enormous pay from their own firms, and the damage they do to them when they up and leave.(问题在于，明星律师如今能够从自己的律所榨取巨额报酬，并且在他们突然离开时对律所造成巨大伤害。) Such professional fleet-footedness(脚步轻快，此处指随时跳槽的灵活性) was unthinkable a decade ago—and marks the passing of something far more important than any law firm.
律所此前也曾倒闭过。正如耶鲁大学的约翰·莫利所写，害怕成为破产合伙企业中最后一个合伙人，意味着弱小的律所可能突然瓦解。然而，从未有如此著名的律所如此迅速地陷入困境。无论以何种标准衡量，威嘉都是一家极其成功的企业：其合伙人平均年收入近600万美元。威嘉律师向客户收取巨额费用的能力并非问题所在。问题在于，明星律师如今能够从自己的律所榨取巨额报酬，并且在他们突然离开时对律所造成巨大伤害。这种职业上的“脚底抹油”在十年前不可想象——它标志着某种比任何律所都更重要的事物的消逝。
All’s Weil that ends Weil
结局好，才是真的好——对威嘉而言却非如此