Four partners at Paul Weiss — including the high-profile Democratic attorney Karen Dunn — are departing the law firm, a spokesperson told CBS News, after Paul Weiss drew attention for striking a deal with President Trump to avoid targeting by the federal government.
In addition to Dunn, Bill Isaacson, Jessica Phillips and Jeannie Rhee are leaving the 150-year-old firm.
“On behalf of the firm, Paul Weiss is grateful to Bill, Jeannie, Jessica and Karen for their many contributions. We wish them well in all their future endeavors,” the spokesperson said.
It’s not clear if the four attorneys’ departures from Paul Weiss are related to the firm’s agreement with Mr. Trump.
Dunn co-chaired Paul Weiss’s litigation department, where she is known for representing high-profile clients like Apple and Google. She’s also known for her longstanding role in Democratic politics, and has helped lead debate preparations for Democratic candidates for over a decade — including for former Vice President Kamala Harris last year, The New York Times reported.
Rhee — who served as managing partner of Paul Weiss’s office in Washington, D.C. — previously worked on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team investigating possible Russian interference in the 2016 election. Isaacson and Phillips served as litigators at the firm, according to their bios on Paul Weiss’s website.
CBS News has reached out to the four departing attorneys for comment.
Earlier this year, Mr. Trump targeted Paul Weiss with an executive order that sharply limited how the firm could interact with the government, seeking to revoke staff members’ security clearances and cut off any federal contracts. The move was part of a wider gambit to punish the president’s foes in the legal community, which he claims have “played an outsized role in undermining the judicial process and in the destruction of bedrock American principles.”
The president’s executive order criticized Paul Weiss for employing Mark Pomerantz, who previously worked on the team of Manhattan prosecutors that investigated Mr. Trump. It also took aim at the firm — and Rhee — for taking on a pro bono case involving the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, and criticized Paul Weiss’ diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
But that order was later rescinded by Mr. Trump, who said Paul Weiss had agreed to a litany of compromises, like auditing its hiring practices and dedicating $40 million to pro bono legal services on causes that both the firm and the Trump administration agree upon.
The apparent deal between the president and Paul Weiss — along with similar deals struck by other law firms threatened by Mr. Trump — proved controversial in the legal community.
Some other law firms chose to sue the administration, arguing the orders were unconstitutional. Judges have struck down Mr. Trump’s orders against the firms Perkins Coie and Jenner & Block — with one federal judge on Friday saying Mr. Trump’s Jenner & Block order was unconstitutional and resembled a “screed” at some points.
Joe Walsh is a senior editor for digital politics at CBS News. Joe previously covered breaking news for Forbes and local news in Boston.
contributed to this report.
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