Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
Encyclopedia
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is a law firm
headquartered on Sixth Avenue
in New York City
. The firm has well-noted expertise in its corporate, personal representation, entertainment law
and litigation practices, having long been a leader among national litigation firms. Paul, Weiss won the honor of having the "litigation department of the year for 2006," according to The American Lawyer
.http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1135937108729 The firm has also gained preeminence for its corporate work in mergers and acquisitions
(especially in the private equity
arena), capital markets regulation, investment funds formation, high-yield debt
offerings, bankruptcy
and corporate
reorganization, employee benefits and executive compensation
, finance
, intellectual property
, real estate
and tax law
.
Paul, Weiss was ranked the third most profitable law firm in the United States in 2006 in terms of average partner compensation after Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
and Cravath, Swaine & Moore
(and fourth after these two and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft in terms of profits per partner).
The firm's lawyer
s are counsel to many of the world's leading corporations such as Time Warner
and Carnival Cruise Lines
, and financial institutions, particularly staple private equity funds like Oak Hill Capital Partners, General Atlantic Partners, KPS Capital Partners
and the Carlyle Group
, to name but a few. The firm has received acclaim for its work on behalf of clients in the financial services, communications, technology, media and entertainment fields (entertainment law and personal representation of figures in the entertainment industry has long been one of the firm's key practice areas.)
In addition to its headquarter office in New York, Paul, Weiss maintains presences in Washington, D.C.
, Wilmington, DE, Toronto
, London
, Tokyo
, Beijing
and Hong Kong
.
A starting first-year associate at Paul Weiss is paid $160,000 per year.
, in 1875, and to this day continues to represent descendants of the clients of Samuel Weiss. When Samuel Weiss died in 1910, his eldest son William Weiss joined with one of Samuel Weiss's associates Charles B. Cole and two others to continue his father's practice under the name of Goldsmith, Cohen, Cole & Weiss. In 1914, the firm moved to 61 Broadway, where it remained for the next 37 years. In 1925, Goldsmith having retired, the name of the firm became Cohen, Cole & Weiss. Two years later, William's younger brother Louis S. Weiss and his law partner John F. Wharton joined the firm, which became Cohen, Cole, Weiss & Wharton. The firm practiced under this name until June 1946, when former Treasury Department General Counsel Randolph E. Paul and onetime National War Labor Board
Chairman Lloyd K. Garrison
joined the firm, which became Paul, Weiss, Wharton & Garrison. In 1950, former U.S. District Judge Simon H. Rifkind joined the firm, which assumed its current name of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. In 1950, it was the first Wall Street firm to move to midtown. It was also the first major firm to admit a female partner, Carolyn Agger, the future wife of Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas
and a black associate, William T. Coleman, Jr., future Secretary of Transportation. The firm opened a Chicago
office in 1957 under the direction of Adlai Stevenson. The office closed in 1960, when each of the Chicago partners assumed positions in the Kennedy Administration. In 1967, former Supreme Court Justice Arthur J. Goldberg joined the firm. He joined the ranks of such notables as Theodore Sorensen, Ramsey Clark
and Morris Berthold Abram. The firm briefly took on Goldberg's name, though it was dropped when the former justice left the firm in 1971 to set up his own practice in Washington, D.C.
. The firm was known for its defense litigation work and had strong ties to the powerful Democratic Party
establishment. Paul Weiss litigators represented Spiro Agnew
in his nolo contendere
plea bargain
after the Watergate scandal
. Other notable litigation clients in the 1970s included Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
, Bruce Bromley
and the white shoe firm
Cravath, Swaine & Moore
in a discrimination suit.
At the 2008 ALB SE Asia Law Awards, Paul, Weiss was crowned:
In 2010 Paul, Weiss was awarded by 2010 ALB Japan Law Awards as the:
Paul, Weiss was crowned Firm of the Year - IT/Telecommunications Law Firm of the Year at the 2008 ALB Hong Kong Law Awards.
and equality
, and formed the basis of what has become one of the most prestigious law firms in the country.
Despite all the success and expansion, the firm has always remained true to its founding principles. In 1949, Paul, Weiss became the first major New York firm to hire a black lawyer, and it was also one of the first firms to elect a female partner. The words of name partner Simon H. Rifkind remain entrenched in the firm’s statement of principles: “We are sensitive to the fact that we practice in New York City, which is a pluralistic community and the major international and financial center of the Western world.
We believe in maintaining, by affirmative efforts, a membership of partners and associates reflecting a wide variety of religious, political, ethnic and social backgrounds, characteristic of that community.” Paul, Weiss continues to make serious efforts to hire and retain a diverse mix of lawyers and support staff, through the work of the firm’s Diversity Committee and programs such as the well-attended annual Diversity Networking event. In 2006, Minority Law Journal ranked Paul, Weiss as the most diverse
law firm in the country in its Diversity Scorecard Survey.
On October 10, 2007, Paul Weiss was included in a ranking of law firms by the national law student group Building a Better Legal Profession
. The organization ranked firms by billable hours, demographic diversity, and pro bono participation. The results can be found on the organization's website, http://www.betterlegalprofession.org.
and public service
, having encouraged their attorneys
to undertake pro bono
work. The firm is also recognized as being the most diverse law firm in New York
, and the second most diverse in the nation. In addition, the firm has received recognition for its pro bono work, and has a long history of such efforts, having helped Thurgood Marshall
prepare and argue Brown v. Board of Education
. The firm's attorneys have also recently been involved in large-scale civil rights
litigation in the areas of same-sex marriage
and prisoner's rights.
who have been held by the U.S. military
at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. While in Guantanamo, a number of the detainees went on a hunger strike to protest alleged inhumane conditions. In response, prison authorities force-fed
detainees using feeding tubes allegedly shoved through the detainees' noses and stomachs without anesthesia
or sedative
s. Paul, Weiss attorneys filed an emergency application demanding that the government immediately provide defense lawyers with information about the condition of the detainees. In a history-making ruling in October 2005, Judge Gladys Kessler
of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
ordered the government to provide the detainees' lawyers with 24 hours' notice before initiating a force-feeding, and to provide lawyers with the detainees’ medical records a week before force-feeding.
The U.S. military attempted to ban all Paul, Weiss attorneys from Guantanamo after the discovery that attorney and partner Julia Tarver Mason was alleged to have illegally used "legal mail" as cover to pass inflammatory newsletters to detainees, an allegation later proved untrue. The decision to ban the firm was rescinded after a period of court filings.
Two Paul, Weiss pro bono detainee clients were later released in 2007 by the Bush Administration without the firm's participation, including Majeed Abdullah Al Joudi
, now wanted for engaging in terrorism after Guantanamo.
This last claim is disputed by AboveTheLaw.com, which received tips that staff attorneys had been laid off and some associates may have been encouraged to resign. In October 2009, AboveTheLaw.com reported that as many as 45 staff attorneys lost their jobs. In fact, their contracts had expired and various have since been rehired.
The Law.com article quotes Chairman Brad Karp as stating "The last quarter of 2009 was the busiest period in our firm's history." However, this claim appears inconsistent with the reduction in attorney headcount. Further, despite claims or record profits and increased workload, Paul, Weiss announced decreased bonuses for associates, with some classes receiving up to $10,000 (57%) less than the previous year.
Law firm
A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other...
headquartered on Sixth Avenue
Sixth Avenue (Manhattan)
Sixth Avenue – officially Avenue of the Americas, although this name is seldom used by New Yorkers – is a major thoroughfare in New York City's borough of Manhattan, on which traffic runs northbound, or "uptown"...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The firm has well-noted expertise in its corporate, personal representation, entertainment law
Entertainment law
Entertainment law or media law is a term for a mix of more traditional categories of law with a focus on providing legal services to the entertainment industry. The principal areas of Entertainment Law overlap substantially with the well-known and conventional field of intellectual property law...
and litigation practices, having long been a leader among national litigation firms. Paul, Weiss won the honor of having the "litigation department of the year for 2006," according to The American Lawyer
The American Lawyer
The American Lawyer is a monthly law magazine published by ALM. It was founded in 1979 by Steven Brill. Features include the annual AmLaw 100 Survey and AmLaw 200 Survey , "The View From the Top", their annual poll of law firm chairpersons, and their "Corporate Scorecard"...
.http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1135937108729 The firm has also gained preeminence for its corporate work in mergers and acquisitions
Mergers and acquisitions
Mergers and acquisitions refers to the aspect of corporate strategy, corporate finance and management dealing with the buying, selling, dividing and combining of different companies and similar entities that can help an enterprise grow rapidly in its sector or location of origin, or a new field or...
(especially in the private equity
Private equity
Private equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange....
arena), capital markets regulation, investment funds formation, high-yield debt
High-yield debt
In finance, a high-yield bond is a bond that is rated below investment grade...
offerings, bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
and corporate
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
reorganization, employee benefits and executive compensation
Executive compensation
Executive pay is financial compensation received by an officer of a firm, often as a mixture of salary, bonuses, shares of and/or call options on the company stock, etc. Over the past three decades, executive pay has risen dramatically beyond the rising levels of an average worker's wage...
, finance
Finance
"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...
, intellectual property
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
, real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
and tax law
Tax law
Tax law is the codified system of laws that describes government levies on economic transactions, commonly called taxes.-Major issues:Primary taxation issues facing the governments world over include;* taxes on income and wealth...
.
Paul, Weiss was ranked the third most profitable law firm in the United States in 2006 in terms of average partner compensation after Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is a prominent law firm located in New York City. Herbert Wachtell, Martin Lipton, Leonard Rosen, and George Katz founded the firm in 1965. All four were graduates of New York University School of Law...
and Cravath, Swaine & Moore
Cravath, Swaine & Moore
Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP is a prominent American law firm based in New York City, with an additional office in London. The second oldest firm in the country, Cravath was founded in 1819 and consistently ranks first among the world's most prestigious law firms according to a survey of partners,...
(and fourth after these two and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft in terms of profits per partner).
The firm's lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
s are counsel to many of the world's leading corporations such as Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
and Carnival Cruise Lines
Carnival Cruise Lines
Carnival Cruise Lines is a British-American owned cruise line, based in Doral, Florida, a suburb of Miami in the United States. Originally an independent company founded in 1972 by Ted Arison, the company is now one of eleven cruise ship brands owned and operated by Carnival Corporation & plc...
, and financial institutions, particularly staple private equity funds like Oak Hill Capital Partners, General Atlantic Partners, KPS Capital Partners
KPS Capital Partners
KPS Capital Partners is a private equity firm focused on control investments in middle-market companies through special situations transactions such as turnarounds, restructurings, bankruptcies, and corporate divestitures...
and the Carlyle Group
Carlyle Group
The Carlyle Group is an American-based global asset management firm, specializing in private equity, based in Washington, D.C. The Carlyle Group operates in four business areas: corporate private equity, real assets, market strategies and fund-of-funds, through its AlpInvest subsidiary...
, to name but a few. The firm has received acclaim for its work on behalf of clients in the financial services, communications, technology, media and entertainment fields (entertainment law and personal representation of figures in the entertainment industry has long been one of the firm's key practice areas.)
In addition to its headquarter office in New York, Paul, Weiss maintains presences in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, Wilmington, DE, Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
and Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
.
A starting first-year associate at Paul Weiss is paid $160,000 per year.
History
Paul, Weiss traces its roots to a firm founded by Samuel Weiss, father of name partner Louis S. WeissLouis S. Weiss
Louis Stix Weiss was a name partner of the international law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, a firm that traces its roots to one founded by Louis's father Samuel W. Weiss in 1875...
, in 1875, and to this day continues to represent descendants of the clients of Samuel Weiss. When Samuel Weiss died in 1910, his eldest son William Weiss joined with one of Samuel Weiss's associates Charles B. Cole and two others to continue his father's practice under the name of Goldsmith, Cohen, Cole & Weiss. In 1914, the firm moved to 61 Broadway, where it remained for the next 37 years. In 1925, Goldsmith having retired, the name of the firm became Cohen, Cole & Weiss. Two years later, William's younger brother Louis S. Weiss and his law partner John F. Wharton joined the firm, which became Cohen, Cole, Weiss & Wharton. The firm practiced under this name until June 1946, when former Treasury Department General Counsel Randolph E. Paul and onetime National War Labor Board
National War Labor Board
The National War Labor Board was a federal agency created in April 1918 by President Woodrow Wilson. It was composed of twelve representatives from business and labor, and co-chaired by Former President William Howard Taft. Its purpose was to arbitrate disputes between workers and employers in...
Chairman Lloyd K. Garrison
Lloyd K. Garrison
Lloyd Kirkham Garrison was an American lawyer. He was Dean of the University of Wisconsin Law School, but also served as chairman of the "first" National Labor Relations Board, chairman of the National War Labor Board, and chair of the New York City Board of Education...
joined the firm, which became Paul, Weiss, Wharton & Garrison. In 1950, former U.S. District Judge Simon H. Rifkind joined the firm, which assumed its current name of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. In 1950, it was the first Wall Street firm to move to midtown. It was also the first major firm to admit a female partner, Carolyn Agger, the future wife of Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas
Abe Fortas
Abraham Fortas was a U.S. Supreme Court associate justice from 1965 to 1969. Originally from Tennessee, Fortas became a law professor at Yale, and subsequently advised the Securities and Exchange Commission. He then worked at the Interior Department under Franklin D...
and a black associate, William T. Coleman, Jr., future Secretary of Transportation. The firm opened a Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
office in 1957 under the direction of Adlai Stevenson. The office closed in 1960, when each of the Chicago partners assumed positions in the Kennedy Administration. In 1967, former Supreme Court Justice Arthur J. Goldberg joined the firm. He joined the ranks of such notables as Theodore Sorensen, Ramsey Clark
Ramsey Clark
William Ramsey Clark is an American lawyer, activist and former public official. He worked for the U.S. Department of Justice, which included service as United States Attorney General from 1967 to 1969, under President Lyndon B. Johnson...
and Morris Berthold Abram. The firm briefly took on Goldberg's name, though it was dropped when the former justice left the firm in 1971 to set up his own practice in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. The firm was known for its defense litigation work and had strong ties to the powerful Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
establishment. Paul Weiss litigators represented Spiro Agnew
Spiro Agnew
Spiro Theodore Agnew was the 39th Vice President of the United States , serving under President Richard Nixon, and the 55th Governor of Maryland...
in his nolo contendere
Nolo contendere
is a legal term that comes from the Latin for "I do not wish to contend." It is also referred to as a plea of no contest.In criminal trials, and in some common law jurisdictions, it is a plea where the defendant neither admits nor disputes a charge, serving as an alternative to a pleading of...
plea bargain
Plea bargain
A plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case whereby the prosecutor offers the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty, usually to a lesser charge or to the original criminal charge with a recommendation of a lighter than the maximum sentence.A plea bargain allows criminal defendants to...
after the Watergate scandal
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement...
. Other notable litigation clients in the 1970s included Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier "Jackie" Kennedy Onassis was the wife of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and served as First Lady of the United States during his presidency from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. Five years later she married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle...
, Bruce Bromley
Bruce Bromley
Bruce Ditmas Bromley was an American lawyer and politician.-Life:...
and the white shoe firm
White shoe firm
White shoe firm is a phrase used to describe the leading professional services firms in the United States, particularly firms that have been in existence for more than a century and represent Fortune 500 companies...
Cravath, Swaine & Moore
Cravath, Swaine & Moore
Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP is a prominent American law firm based in New York City, with an additional office in London. The second oldest firm in the country, Cravath was founded in 1819 and consistently ranks first among the world's most prestigious law firms according to a survey of partners,...
in a discrimination suit.
At the 2008 ALB SE Asia Law Awards, Paul, Weiss was crowned:
- Deal of the Year - SE Asia M&A Deal of the Year.
- Deal of the Year - SE Asia Deal of the Year.
In 2010 Paul, Weiss was awarded by 2010 ALB Japan Law Awards as the:
- Deal of the Year - M&A Deal of the Year
- Deal of the Year - Japan Deal of the Year
Paul, Weiss was crowned Firm of the Year - IT/Telecommunications Law Firm of the Year at the 2008 ALB Hong Kong Law Awards.
Principles of equality and diversity
In 1923, two well-educated young lawyers and good friends, John Wharton and Louis Weiss, decided to leave establishment firms to form their own partnership under the name of Weiss & Wharton. Their tiny operation, and later with its integration into Cohen, Cole, Weiss & Wharton, was committed to toleranceToleration
Toleration is "the practice of deliberately allowing or permitting a thing of which one disapproves. One can meaningfully speak of tolerating, ie of allowing or permitting, only if one is in a position to disallow”. It has also been defined as "to bear or endure" or "to nourish, sustain or preserve"...
and equality
Social equality
Social equality is a social state of affairs in which all people within a specific society or isolated group have the same status in a certain respect. At the very least, social equality includes equal rights under the law, such as security, voting rights, freedom of speech and assembly, and the...
, and formed the basis of what has become one of the most prestigious law firms in the country.
Despite all the success and expansion, the firm has always remained true to its founding principles. In 1949, Paul, Weiss became the first major New York firm to hire a black lawyer, and it was also one of the first firms to elect a female partner. The words of name partner Simon H. Rifkind remain entrenched in the firm’s statement of principles: “We are sensitive to the fact that we practice in New York City, which is a pluralistic community and the major international and financial center of the Western world.
We believe in maintaining, by affirmative efforts, a membership of partners and associates reflecting a wide variety of religious, political, ethnic and social backgrounds, characteristic of that community.” Paul, Weiss continues to make serious efforts to hire and retain a diverse mix of lawyers and support staff, through the work of the firm’s Diversity Committee and programs such as the well-attended annual Diversity Networking event. In 2006, Minority Law Journal ranked Paul, Weiss as the most diverse
law firm in the country in its Diversity Scorecard Survey.
On October 10, 2007, Paul Weiss was included in a ranking of law firms by the national law student group Building a Better Legal Profession
Building a Better Legal Profession
Building a Better Legal Profession is a national grassroots organization founded by students at Stanford Law School in January 2007. The group collects and publicizes employment data at large private law firms as a way of encouraging workplace reform at these companies...
. The organization ranked firms by billable hours, demographic diversity, and pro bono participation. The results can be found on the organization's website, http://www.betterlegalprofession.org.
Pro bono activities
Paul, Weiss has also long maintained a strong commitment to diversityMulticulturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
and public service
Community service
Community service is donated service or activity that is performed by someone or a group of people for the benefit of the public or its institutions....
, having encouraged their attorneys
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
to undertake pro bono
Pro bono
Pro bono publico is a Latin phrase generally used to describe professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment or at a reduced fee as a public service. It is common in the legal profession and is increasingly seen in marketing, technology, and strategy consulting firms...
work. The firm is also recognized as being the most diverse law firm in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and the second most diverse in the nation. In addition, the firm has received recognition for its pro bono work, and has a long history of such efforts, having helped Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, serving from October 1967 until October 1991...
prepare and argue Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 , was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which...
. The firm's attorneys have also recently been involved in large-scale civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
litigation in the areas of same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
and prisoner's rights.
Guantanamo detainees
Paul, Weiss represents detaineesGuantanamo Bay attorneys
The Center for Constitutional Rights has coordinated efforts by American lawyers to handle the habeas corpus, and other legal appeals, of several hundred of the Guantanamo detainees....
who have been held by the U.S. military
United States armed forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...
at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. While in Guantanamo, a number of the detainees went on a hunger strike to protest alleged inhumane conditions. In response, prison authorities force-fed
Force-feeding
Force-feeding is the practice of feeding a person or an animal against their will. "Gavage" is supplying a nutritional substance by means of a small plastic tube passed through the nose or mouth into the stomach, not explicitly 'forcibly'....
detainees using feeding tubes allegedly shoved through the detainees' noses and stomachs without anesthesia
Anesthesia
Anesthesia, or anaesthesia , traditionally meant the condition of having sensation blocked or temporarily taken away...
or sedative
Sedative
A sedative or tranquilizer is a substance that induces sedation by reducing irritability or excitement....
s. Paul, Weiss attorneys filed an emergency application demanding that the government immediately provide defense lawyers with information about the condition of the detainees. In a history-making ruling in October 2005, Judge Gladys Kessler
Gladys Kessler
Gladys Kessler is an American jurist who sits on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. She was nominated to the court by President Bill Clinton, and confirmed in July 1994....
of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
United States District Court for the District of Columbia
The United States District Court for the District of Columbia is a federal district court. Appeals from the District are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a...
ordered the government to provide the detainees' lawyers with 24 hours' notice before initiating a force-feeding, and to provide lawyers with the detainees’ medical records a week before force-feeding.
The U.S. military attempted to ban all Paul, Weiss attorneys from Guantanamo after the discovery that attorney and partner Julia Tarver Mason was alleged to have illegally used "legal mail" as cover to pass inflammatory newsletters to detainees, an allegation later proved untrue. The decision to ban the firm was rescinded after a period of court filings.
Two Paul, Weiss pro bono detainee clients were later released in 2007 by the Bush Administration without the firm's participation, including Majeed Abdullah Al Joudi
Majeed Abdullah Al Joudi
Majeed Abdullah Al Joudi is a citizen of Saudi Arabia who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 25....
, now wanted for engaging in terrorism after Guantanamo.
2009 Recession and Record Profits
In February 2010, Law.com reported that Paul, Weiss recorded an increase in profits per partner, despite an almost 4% drop in revenue. Firm Chairman Brad Karp called 2009 "the most profitable year in our firm's history." Law.com said the firm's performance notable in that it did not result to layoffs, as many other large firms had.This last claim is disputed by AboveTheLaw.com, which received tips that staff attorneys had been laid off and some associates may have been encouraged to resign. In October 2009, AboveTheLaw.com reported that as many as 45 staff attorneys lost their jobs. In fact, their contracts had expired and various have since been rehired.
The Law.com article quotes Chairman Brad Karp as stating "The last quarter of 2009 was the busiest period in our firm's history." However, this claim appears inconsistent with the reduction in attorney headcount. Further, despite claims or record profits and increased workload, Paul, Weiss announced decreased bonuses for associates, with some classes receiving up to $10,000 (57%) less than the previous year.
Name Partners
- Randolph Paul
- Louis S. WeissLouis S. WeissLouis Stix Weiss was a name partner of the international law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, a firm that traces its roots to one founded by Louis's father Samuel W. Weiss in 1875...
- Simon H. RifkindSimon H. RifkindSimon Hirsch Rifkind was a prominent United States federal judge and trial lawyer.- Biography :Born in Lithuania, Rifkind emigrated to the United States in 1910. He attended DeWitt Clinton High School, and received a B.S. from City College of New York in 1922 and an LL.B...
- John F. WhartonJohn F. WhartonJohn Franklin Wharton was a prominent American lawyer and founding partner of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. Wharton's work was steeped in the classic era of Broadway theatre; he was an aficionado of the stage from his youth, and his practice as a lawyer developed around a series of...
- Lloyd K. GarrisonLloyd K. GarrisonLloyd Kirkham Garrison was an American lawyer. He was Dean of the University of Wisconsin Law School, but also served as chairman of the "first" National Labor Relations Board, chairman of the National War Labor Board, and chair of the New York City Board of Education...
Notable lawyers
- Mark S. Bergman
- Leslie Gordon Fagen
- Martin Flumenbaum
- Paul D. GinsbergPaul D. GinsbergPaul D. Ginsberg is a partner, co-head of the mergers & acquisitions group and a member of the Management Committee of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, a prestigious international law firm based in New York.- Biography:...
- Nicholas Groombridge
- Gerard E. Harper
- Michele Hirshman
- Meredith Kane
- Brad S. KarpBrad S. KarpBrad S. Karp is a prominent American litigator. He currently serves as chair of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP.- Biography :Karp earned his B.A. from Union College in 1981. He went on to receive a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1984. Aside from a clerkship under Judge Irving R...
- Alan Kornberg
- Stephen P. LambStephen P. LambStephen P. Lamb was a judge in the U.S. state of Delaware. He served on Delaware's Court of Chancery with the title of vice chancellor.He left the court in 2009, and has now returned to private practice with the firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison....
- Mark F. Mendelsohn
- Mark Pomerantz
- Walter Rieman
- Robert Schumer
- Ted WellsTed WellsTed Wells is a prominent criminal attorney. A litigation partner at the New York law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, the National Law Journal has selected Wells as one of America's best white-collar defense attorneys on numerous occasions. Wells received his B.A. from...
- Beth WilkinsonBeth WilkinsonBeth A. Wilkinson is a prominent Washington, D.C. lawyer, and partner in the New York City-based law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. She works in the firm's Washington, D.C. office focusing on white collar criminal defense....
Notable alumni
- Arthur L. LimanArthur L. LimanArthur Lawrence Liman was a partner at the New York law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, and was well known for his public service.-Life and career:...
- Theodore C. Sorensen
- Adlai E. Stevenson
- Arthur GoldbergArthur GoldbergArthur Joseph Goldberg was an American statesman and jurist who served as the U.S. Secretary of Labor, Supreme Court Justice and Ambassador to the United Nations.-Early life:...
- Ramsey ClarkRamsey ClarkWilliam Ramsey Clark is an American lawyer, activist and former public official. He worked for the U.S. Department of Justice, which included service as United States Attorney General from 1967 to 1969, under President Lyndon B. Johnson...
- Morris Berthold Abram
- Joseph S. IsemanJoseph S. IsemanJoseph S. Iseman was a Yale Law School-educated attorney and educator known for his work with National Television, Children's Television Workshop, also known as Sesame Workshop, and Bennington College , as well as the American University of Paris, where he served for a time as the vice chair...
- Jeh JohnsonJeh JohnsonJeh Charles Johnson is an American civil and criminal trial lawyer, currently serving as General Counsel of the Department of Defense. Johnson is a graduate of Morehouse College and Columbia Law School, and is grandson of noted sociologist and Fisk University president Dr. Charles S...
- William C. Coleman
- John F. Breglio
- Robert S. Smith
- Samuel J. Silverman
- Telford Taylor
- Elizabeth HoltzmanElizabeth HoltzmanElizabeth Holtzman is an American lawyer and former Democratic politician, pioneer woman officeholder, four term U.S. Representative , two term District Attorney of Kings County , and New York City Comptroller .Her role on the House Judiciary Committee during the Watergate scandal drew national...
- Jerome Cohen
- Walter Pollak
- Louis Pollak
- Mortimer Caplan
- Louis Oberdofer
- Carolyn Agger
- Arthur Frommer
- Irving Younger
- Edward N. Costikyan
- Jay Topkis
- Martin Payson
- Adrian W. DeWind
- Robert H. Montgomery, Jr.
- Bayless Manning
- Willard Wirtz
- Newton Minow
- Hakeem Jeffries
- Patty Murray
- Lewis A. KaplanLewis A. KaplanLewis A. Kaplan is a United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York. He took senior status on February 1, 2011....
- Matthew NimetzMatthew NimetzMatthew Nimetz is an American diplomat.He is the United Nations Special Representative for the naming dispute between Greece and the Republic of Macedonia....
- Eliot SpitzerEliot SpitzerEliot Laurence Spitzer is an American lawyer, former Democratic Party politician, and political commentator. He was the co-host of In the Arena, a talk-show and punditry forum broadcast on CNN until CNN cancelled his show in July of 2011...
- A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr.
- Reginald LewisReginald LewisReginald F. Lewis , was an American businessman, who was one of the most successful business leaders during the 1980s. He was the richest African-American man in the 1980s. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, he grew up in a middle class neighborhood. He won a football scholarship to Virginia State...
- David M. Rubenstein
- Joel HyattJoel HyattJoel Z. Hyatt is a prominent businessman and former attorney and American politician of the Democratic party. He is the founder of Hyatt Legal Services, and was featured in the law firm's television commercials speaking the slogan, "I'm Joel Hyatt and you have my word on it."Hyatt graduated from...
- Daniel GarodnickDaniel GarodnickDaniel R. "Dan" Garodnick is a New York City Councilman representing Manhattan’s 4th District since 2006.-Biography:Prior to running for elected office, Garodnick was a litigation associate at the New York law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison...
- Markus U. DiethelmMarkus U. DiethelmMarkus U. Diethelm, born 22 October 1957 is a Swiss businessman and is Group General Counsel at UBS AG. Diethelm gained a law degree from the University of Zurich and a Masters and PhD from Stanford University. He started his career with Zurich law firm Bär & Karrer. in 1983. In 1988 he worked at...
- Colleen McMahon
Further reading
- Lawyer: A Life of Counsel and Controversy, by Arthur Liman and Peter Israel