March agreement committed US$40 million in free legal work to back White House causes
Four partners have announced their departure Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, following the law firm’s deal with the White House to cancel an executive order targeting the firm and endangering its business.
In an internal email seen by Reuters, Karen Dunn, William Isaacson, Jeannie Rhee, and Jessica Phillips said they would be working together to launch a new legal practice. The new firm’s name is Dunn Isaacson Rhee LLP. The lawyers’ email did not address their former firm’s agreement with US President Donald Trump.
“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,” the email said. “It has been an honor to work alongside such talented lawyers and to call so many of you our friends.”
Reuters reported that Brad Karp – Paul, Weiss chairman – responded with a statement expressing gratitude to the four departing lawyers for their work for the firm. Reuters provided more information regarding these lawyers’ backgrounds.
Dunn, who co-heads the firm’s litigation department, is a Washington-based lawyer who served in the White House during former president Barack Obama’s presidency and on the debate prep team for Kamala Harris, Trump’s rival during the 2024 presidential election.
Reuters added that Dunn has acted as Google’s lead attorney in a proceeding commenced by the US Justice Department. The department’s lawsuit alleged that Google was monopolizing digital advertising markets.
Reuters shared that Isaacson is an antitrust lawyer, while Phillips left Boies Schiller Flexner to join Paul, Weiss in 2020 alongside Dunn and Isaacson. Isaacson’s LinkedIn page identifies complex commercial litigation as a central practice area. Phillips is also a commercial litigator, according to LinkedIn.
Rhee was a member of the prosecution team spearheaded by special counsel Robert Mueller, which investigated potential Russian interference relating to Trump’s 2016 presidential election. Rhee assists clients with cybersecurity and data-privacy matters, states Rhee’s LinkedIn page. Rhee came aboard Paul, Weiss in 2019, according to the Reuters article.
According to a previous Reuters article, published in March, Trump targeted US firms based on their contributions to his Democratic opponents and their internal diversity policies and imposed measures like funding reductions to drive private companies and universities to align with his goals.
That month, Paul, Weiss committed US$40 million in free legal work to back the Trump administration’s causes. Reuters reported that the firm also seemed to dispense with its internal diversity policies.
Reuters shared that it accessed Paul, Weiss’ internal email to its lawyers in which Karp justified the deal with the White House as being in accordance with the firm’s commitment to political independence and its other principles.
Reuters noted that a copy of the deal, included in the internal email, provided that Paul, Weiss would retain and promote lawyers based on merit, while a version of the agreement circulated by Trump stated that the firm consented to refrain from adopting or pursuing DEI policies.
Reuters said other law firms also struck deals with the US president. In contrast, others sued the administration over executive orders targeting their businesses by threatening their access to US government officials and federal contracts.
