Boutique law firm Dunn Isaacson Rhee was recently founded by former Paul, Weiss partners Karen Dunn, Bill Isaacson, Jessica Phillips, and Jeannie Rhee. That fact would be big news to Biglaw watchers in completely ordinary times, but we live in the year of our lord 2025 and nothing is ordinary. The partners exited Paul, Weiss because of the cowardly deal the firm struck with the Trump administration.
In March Paul, Weiss shocked the world of Biglaw when they became the first firm to bend a knee to Donald Trump to get out from under an onerous Executive Order designed to extract a financial penalty for being affiliated with cases and causes that displeased the president. Since then, the firm has been experiencing the consequences of their actions — the deal with Trump keeps getting worse, there’ve been congressional investigations, client concerns, and so many lawyers bailing on the firm to distance themselves from the craven capitulation.
And Dunn Isaacson Rhee is where a *bunch* of those fleeing attorneys have landed. According to reporting by Bloomberg Law, partners Martha Goodman and Amy Mauser have joined that list — making them the eighth and ninth partners to leave Paul, Weiss for Dunn Isaacson — not to mention all the associates that have also joined the new boutique.
These types of departures are exactly why Paul, Weiss chair Brad Karp has been reduced to assuring his partners that EVERYTHING IS FINE. This is a real run on litigation talent and is the exact opposite of reassuring,
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @[email protected].
