Four major partners exit Paul, Weiss after Trump deal
The departures include prominent Democratic lawyer Karen Dunn and former Mueller prosecutor Jeannie Rhee.
A prominent Democratic lawyer and three other major partners are leaving the law firm Paul, Weiss to start their own firm, according to an email obtained by POLITICO.
The departures come two months after Paul, Weiss entered a deal with the White House to provide $40 million in pro-bono legal work to causes supported by President Donald Trump in exchange for the removal of an executive order that firm Chair Brad Karp said “could easily have destroyed our firm.”
The departures include Karen Dunn, who co-chaired the firm’s litigation department and has helped Democratic presidential and vice presidential candidates prepare for debates in every election since 2008.
Also leaving the firm is Jeannie Rhee, a former Obama-era Justice Department official who previously represented Hillary Clinton in a lawsuit regarding her use of a private email server and later joined special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigative team.
Rounding out the departures are Jessica Phillips, who has represented some of the nation’s largest technology companies in court, and William Isaacson, another high-profile trial lawyer once named litigator of the year by The American Lawyer.
“We were disappointed not to be able to tell each of you personally and individually the news that we have decided to leave Paul, Weiss to start a new law firm,” Dunn wrote in a goodbye email sent to the firm’s partners. “It has been an honor to work alongside such talented lawyers and to call so many of you our friends. We hope to continue to collaborate with all of you in the years to come and are incredibly grateful for your warm and generous partnership.”
Citing the firm’s association with a lawyer who previously investigated Trump for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, the executive order cut the firm and its clients off from government contracts, limited the ability of its lawyers to interact with government officials and even threatened to restrict Paul Weiss, attorneys from government buildings.
Two federal judges have ruled similar orders against law firms Perkins Coie and Jenner & Block unconstitutional. Two additional firms, WilmerHale and Susman Godfrey, have also sued over similar executive orders and final rulings are pending in those cases.
But Paul Weiss and other elite law firms struck deals to try to get in Trump’s good graces.
“Paul Weiss is grateful to Bill, Jeannie, Jessica and Karen for their many contributions. We wish them well in all their future endeavors,” the firm said in a statement.
