Goodwin Hires Weil Real Estate Co-Head as Rival Firm Winds Down

Thomas Henry, who led some of the country's largest commercial real estate transactions, joins Goodwin's New York office after 27 years in practice.

By the Family Office Real Estate Daily Desk·Thursday, November 5, 2026·2 min read

Editorial summary of reporting byLawFuel.com Our editorial standards →

The answer · checked against LawFuel.com

Who did Goodwin hire from Weil Gotshal to co-lead its real estate group?

Goodwin has hired Thomas Henry, former co-head of Weil Gotshal's real estate group, as partner and co-leader of its Real Estate industry group in New York, as Weil Gotshal commences its winddown. Henry brings more than 27 years of experience representing domestic and foreign real estate companies, funds, and institutional lenders. Goodwin's Real Estate group has shaped seven of the eight largest REIT deals and represents 71 of PERE's top 100 real estate investment managers.

Key facts

Thomas Henry joined Goodwin as partner and co-leader of its Real Estate industry group, based in Goodwin's New York office, according to Goodwin's media announcement.
Thomas Henry previously served as co-head of Weil Gotshal's real estate group before departing as Weil Gotshal commences its winddown.
Thomas Henry brings more than 27 years of experience representing domestic and foreign real estate companies, funds, and institutional lenders and investors, according to Goodwin.
Goodwin's Real Estate industry group has shaped seven of the eight largest real estate investment trust deals, according to Goodwin.
Goodwin's Real Estate industry group represents 71 of PERE's top 100 real estate investment managers, according to Goodwin.
Diana Brummer, leader of Goodwin's Real Estate industry group, said Thomas Henry will serve as co-leader of the group alongside her.

Goodwin Hires Weil Real Estate Co-Head as Rival Firm Winds Down — Image: editorial illustration · Story sourced from LawFuel.com

Goodwin announced that Thomas Henry will join the firm as partner and co-leader of its real estate industry group. Henry was previously co-head of Weil Gotshal's real estate group, which is commencing its winddown. He will be based in Goodwin's New York office.

Henry brings more than 27 years of experience representing domestic and foreign real estate companies, funds, and institutional lenders and investors in complex strategic transactions. He has led some of the country's largest and most high-profile commercial real estate transactions in recent years, spanning public M&A, take-privates, portfolio acquisitions and dispositions, restructurings, and development transactions.

He advises on ownership, financing, and capital markets issues in multifaceted deals, from equity investments and joint ventures to acquisition, mezzanine, and commercial mortgage-backed securities financings, as well as REIT matters, across every major asset class.

Diana Brummer, leader of Goodwin's real estate industry group, said Henry's leadership experience complements the team's industry focus. "He will be an important bridge between our Real Estate, Investment Funds & Capital, and Private Equity groups — bringing those capabilities together to support sponsors and investors across the full investment horizon," Brummer said. She will co-lead Goodwin's platform alongside Henry.

Henry said Goodwin's strength in real estate combined with its focus on deep industry immersion means the team has an unparalleled understanding of how real estate investors think and what it takes to get complex deals done. "I look forward to joining Diana and the team and pairing my transactional experience with the firm's depth in private capital, technology, and life sciences to help clients advance their investment strategies," he said.

Goodwin's real estate industry group is a vertically integrated institutional real estate platform that guides clients throughout their investment life cycle. The team spans real estate funds, REITs, joint ventures, M&A, and other financing types.

The firm has led some of the industry's most complex deal structures, including shaping seven of the eight largest real estate investment trust deals. The team represents 71 of PERE's top 100 real estate investment managers.

The Deployment Angle

Family Office Real Estate Daily Desk · our analysis, not the source's

A hire like Henry signals that full-service platforms with integrated capital-markets, fund-formation and transactional counsel are winning mandates from sponsors who need seamless execution across the investment lifecycle. Family offices co-investing alongside sponsors should audit whether their lead counsel can coordinate across those three workstreams without hand-offs that create delay or leak information.

Henry's background in public M&A, take-privates and REIT restructurings suggests Goodwin is positioning for a cycle where sponsors need to extract value from public vehicles or recapitalize portfolios under time pressure. Families that committed capital to 2021-vintage funds should verify that their sponsors have relationships with counsel who have done restructurings and distressed M&A at scale, not just acquisition work in a benign market.

The integration Henry describes between real estate, private equity and investment funds counsel is what enables sponsors to recut waterfalls, renegotiate promotes or restructure co-investment terms when cash flows miss projections. Families should test in advance whether their fund documents allow them to participate in restructuring negotiations or whether their consent rights evaporate the moment a fund trips a covenant. The legal architecture matters before distress arrives, not after.

Questions this story answers

01Who did Goodwin hire from Weil Gotshal and what will he do at the firm?

Goodwin hired Thomas Henry, former co-head of Weil Gotshal's real estate group, as partner and co-leader of its Real Estate industry group in New York. Diana Brummer, leader of Goodwin's Real Estate industry group, said Henry will serve as a bridge between Goodwin's Real Estate, Investment Funds & Capital, and Private Equity groups to support sponsors and investors across the full investment horizon.

02What types of real estate transactions has Thomas Henry handled in his career?

According to Goodwin, Thomas Henry has led some of the country's largest commercial real estate transactions, spanning public M&A, take-privates, portfolio acquisitions and dispositions, restructurings, and development transactions. He advises on equity investments, joint ventures, acquisition financings, mezzanine financings, commercial mortgage-backed securities financings, and REIT matters across every major asset class.

03Why is Weil Gotshal losing partners like Thomas Henry?

According to the source, Weil Gotshal has commenced its winddown, which preceded Thomas Henry's departure to Goodwin. The source does not provide further detail on the reasons for Weil Gotshal's winddown.

04How strong is Goodwin's real estate practice relative to competitors?

According to Goodwin, its Real Estate industry group has shaped seven of the eight largest REIT deals and represents 71 of PERE's top 100 real estate investment managers. Goodwin describes its platform as vertically integrated, spanning real estate funds, REITs, joint ventures, M&A, and other financing types.

05What did Thomas Henry say about why he joined Goodwin?

Thomas Henry said Goodwin's strength in real estate combined with its focus on deep industry immersion gives the team an understanding of how real estate investors think and what it takes to get complex deals done. Henry said he looks forward to pairing his transactional experience with Goodwin's depth in private capital, technology, and life sciences to help clients advance their investment strategies.

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