President Trump’s executive order attacked Paul Weiss and severely limited the ability of law firms to represent their clients, widely regarded by lawyers as a dangerous offense to the state’s legal system.
For Paul Weiss’ competitors, this is an opportunity.
Within days of Trump’s March 14 order, some of the biggest competitors have summoned top lawyers from tortured law firms, one of the most prestigious law firms in the United States – asking if they want to jump ship with their lucrative clients.
Five lawyers who know poaching directly, several companies including Sullivan & Cromwell and Kirkland & Ellis hope to take advantage of the moment. All the attorneys interviewed in this article talked about anonymously to talk about discussions that should have been kept private.
The rivals with Paul Weiss’s Rain Raising Farmers have adopted a gentle attitude, saying they sympathize with lawyers’ plight, but if they want to get out of the turmoil, they can name their prices. The four said attorneys at another major law firm, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, also carefully considered whether to try to lure a partner away from Paul Weiss.
The promotion of other companies has spiked Paul Weiss’ panic after Trump issued an executive order that restricted the company’s lawyers from dealing with the government, including access to federal buildings. The order also said companies that operate with Paul Weiss could lose government contracts.
Another law firm, Perkins Coie, received a similar order but decided to challenge it in court. At first, Paul Weiss wanted to establish a unified front with other large law firms to challenge the orders against the order. But the threat of losing top lawyers complicates the concerns of client escape.
Some partners are particularly concerned that Scott Barshay, the head of company practice, might leave, and other lawyers will follow him, according to four people who reviewed the company. Even if the company successfully fights the order in court, it will be marked as an enemy of Mr. Trump and strive to get government approval.
So Paul Weiss quickly reached a deal with Mr. Trump to demand that the company do $40 million in unpaid work for the White House-backed cause.
“We are waiting for the company to support us after the president’s executive order,” said Brad Karp, chairman of Paul Weiss, in an email to the company on Sunday. “It’s disappointing that we are far from supporting, and we understand that certain other companies are seeking to exploit our vulnerability by actively recruiting clients and recruiting lawyers.”
Kirkland & Ellis chairman Jon Ballis said in a statement that his company has not attempted to recruit Paul Weiss attorneys. A Sullivan & Cromwell spokesman also denied trying to recruit lawyers from the company. Representatives for Wachtell Lipton said the company had never contacted any Paul Weiss attorney.
Mr. Trump’s executive order exposed Paul Weiss’ vulnerability. The company, formally known as Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, is known for its picky litigants who appear in court. However, litigation lawyers have taken corporate traders from the stage in recent years. Now, the company is increasingly dependent on making these highly paid corporate lawyers happy and conducting business.
Large law firms are locked in the battle for legal talents. Large companies regularly poach top lawyers to strengthen their practices and attract clients who can incur more fees. The highest performance of a large company can take home more than $20 million a year. Paul Weiss, who operates globally and employs more than 2,000 employees, is now a major source of revenue. According to Law.com, the company received about $2.6 billion in total revenue in 2024, up from $2 billion the previous year.
For many large law firms, the start of this year is slow, as tariffs and uncertainties in cutting federal work have reduced corporate merger activity, often a large-scale money-making man.
Losing a top lawyer can be particularly difficult when deals are scarce. When lawyers leave one company and head to another, they usually take their clients, which means less fees.
Over the past few years, Paul Weiss has gone to great lengths to poach, luring corporate lawyers away from competitors with huge salary packages.
One of the largest employees is Mr. Barshay, a rainmaker in Cravath, Swaine & Moore, who went to Paul Weiss in 2016 and is now the chairman of its corporate division, which advises on mergers and other deals. Mr. Barshay’s clients include IBM, Qualcomm, General Electric and Chevron.
While top lawyers, including Mr Barshay, assured Mr Karp and others that they had not left the plan, the leaders remained worried that there might be an Exodus.
While Paul Weiss debated how to respond to executive orders, Mr. Karp regularly gathered a small portion of top brass, including Mr. Barshay. Paul Basta, co-chair of the restructuring department; Matthew Abbott, global co-chair of the merger and acquisition group; and Angelo Bonvino, global co-head of the group.
Four people inside Paul Weiss said that throughout the company, there are many opinions on how to respond. Some partners want to fight Mr. Trump’s executive order in court. Some colleagues, usually at the beginning of their careers, want to boycott them.
But in leadership, people are deeply concerned about how many lawyers in the company can continue to work. Federal agencies usually have to sign company mergers and stock products.
Even if the judge complies with the executive order, Paul Weiss will be bad for Mr. Trump. The senior partners believe clients ultimately want to hire a law firm with a more favorable position in Washington.
Mr. Bashai was one of those who supported the deal with Trump, eventually leading the company’s other operations backed the resolution.
But some lawyers led by the company’s top litigator Kannon Shanmugam have prepared legal challenges in case Paul Weiss can’t reach a deal, the people said.
Mr. Karp boarded a private jet on March 18 and met at the White House earlier the next day. He went to the Oval Office alone. Mr. Trump was accompanied by his chief of staff, Susie Wiles; his adviser Steve Witkoff; and his personal legal counsel Boris Epshteyn.
According to two people familiar with what happened, Mr. Trump had another person who told the group that he wanted to attend the meeting – Robert Giuffra, co-chair of Sullivan and Cromwell.
Mr. Juvra, who has known Mr. Trump for many years, recently agreed to accept Mr. Trump’s appeal for a conviction, accusing him of struggling a deal with porn star Storm Daniels in a New York state court.
Initially, the conversation between the president and two legal rivals focused on golf, the people said. The discussion then turned to Trump’s concerns about Paul Weiss’ long-term connection to democratic politics.
Law firms are consistent with political parties when they are owned. But Paul Weiss is involved in litigation against the first Trump administration, involving issues like immigration policy. Additionally, when the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office investigated some of Mr. Trump’s business dealings, Paul Weiss brought two employees to the office to help establish potential cases.
Mr. Zhulfra was collaborated by Mr. Epshteyn, Mr. Karp and Mr. Bill Burck and advised Mr. Karp on details of the agreement. Given the competitiveness of his company and Paul Weiss, Mr. Jufra’s involvement is an awkward twist.
The president’s adviser Stephen Miller also involved behind the scenes, a polarizing figure with the first Trump administration.
When asked about the meeting and Mr. Miller’s participation, Rather than addressing the issue, a White House spokesperson praised Trump for the pressure on major law firms to work with the administration.
The meeting reached a deal, and by Thursday night, Mr. Trump announced that he was lifting the executive order. Mr. Cape tried to assure his company that the deal was consistent with Paul Weiss’ values.
But he faced public condemnation for the deal, which many critics say will only incite the president to retribution for more law firms. Some criticisms came from about 140 Paul Weiss alumni who signed a letter to Mr. Cap calling for a decision to be “cowardly”.
“This is a permanent stain of a great company, trying to make a profit by losing its soul,” the lawyer wrote in the letter.
So far, Paul Weiss doesn’t seem to have lost any partners or big customers.
One client who wants to leave is Steven Schwartz, an attorney for federal foreign bribery charges in New Jersey. Mr. Schwartz quickly hired defense attorneys from Sullivan and Cromwell to express his concern that Mr. Trump’s executive order would make it impossible for Paul Weiss to represent him.
But since the executive order was canceled last week, Mr Schwartz said he might have a second idea about changing the situation for lawyers.
Mr. Karp insisted in an email to the company on Sunday that the deal was necessary for Paul Weiss’ survival.
“In the wider world, no one can appreciate how stressful an executive order like this is in the face of such an executive order,” he wrote.
By Tuesday, another law firm was in the president’s hybrid hair.
Mr. Trump issued an executive order against Jenner & Block, who hired a top lawyer who worked with special counsel Robert Mueller to investigate whether Trump invited Russia to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.
“President Trump is fulfilling his promise to end the weaponization of the administration,” the White House said in a statement announcing the order.
Maggie Haberman and Maureen Farrell Contribution report.
