You know that meme of the dog sitting amid flames, saying everything is fine? (For our visual learners, it’s below.) Well, Brad Karp, chair of Biglaw firm Paul, Weiss, is doing the damndest impersonation of it.
Paul, Weiss shocked the world of Biglaw in March when they became the first — though not the last — 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 and client concerns. And, of course, there’ve been bunches lawyers bailing on the firm to distance themselves from the craven capitulation. Most recently, Paul, Weiss is dealing with the anticipated 20-odd litigators leaving to work at litigation boutique Dunn Isaacson Rhee. That firm was created in the wake of Paul, Weiss’s Trump deal by partners Karen Dunn, Bill Isaacson, Jessica Phillips, and Jeannie Rhee.
And Karp spent time last week doing damage control on those departures. According to reporting by American Lawyer, Karp spoke at a partner meeting to combat “misinformation” about the recent spate of departures. He allegedly called those heading to Dunn Isaacson a “siloed unit” that came to Paul, Weiss from Boies Schiller.
Karp also told partners on Monday that he expects some other partners who worked together at Paul Weiss and Boies Schiller, including income partners, to join the departing group. Sources said that Karp told the partnership that the firm has “encouraged them to move on” and that the firm wished them “every success.”
But other sources dispute that characterization, saying the departing attorneys (19 so far have been confirmed to be leaving for Dunn Isaacson, with more expected to join according to the boutique) were not siloed and of the 19 joining the new firm, only five worked together at Boies.
Karp downplayed the losses to the firm’s litigation department (Damian Williams, former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, also recently announced he was leaving Paul, Weiss for Jenner & Block — a firm very much not capitulating to Trump) saying the firm has “has never been healthier,” and noting the litigation department is still 55% larger than it was two years ago.
During the meeting, Karp also sought to address the health and growth of the firm, noting that six of the 10 largest matters in the firm over the past month are litigation matters. According to sources, Karp said “none of the recently departed partners” had anything to do with the generation of these matters, and they were instead generated by current litigation partners.
One certainly assumes, that given the size and profitability of Paul, Weiss, the firm will, long term, be able to weather this storm. But it’s not a great sign that the partnership needs this kind of reassurance from Karp.
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].
