By Sara Merken
(Reuters) – Four partners are leaving law firm Paul Weiss, after it struck a deal in March with U.S. President Donald Trump to lift an executive order that targeted the firm.
Karen Dunn, Bill Isaacson, Jeannie Rhee and Jessica Phillips said in an internal email obtained by Reuters they were departing to form a new practice together.
“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.”
The four did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The email did not mention Paul Weiss’ deal with Trump, in which the firm pledged $40 million in free legal work to support mutually agreed causes with the administration. Eight other law firms have since made similar deals with the White House.
“We are grateful to Bill, Jeannie, Jessica and Karen for their many contributions to the firm,” Paul Weiss Chairman Brad Karp said in a statement on Friday.
Dunn, co-chair of the firm’s litigation department, is a leading Washington lawyer and prominent Democrat, having served in the Obama White House and later on the debate prep team for Trump’s 2024 election opponent Kamala Harris.
She is Google’s lead attorney in a lawsuit by the U.S. Justice Department accusing the company of monopolizing digital advertising markets.
Rhee joined Paul Weiss in 2019, after serving on the prosecution team led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller that probed any connections between Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Moscow.
Isaacson, a veteran antitrust lawyer, joined Paul Weiss in 2020 from Boies Schiller Flexner along with Dunn and Phillips.
Four law firms have sued the Trump administration over executive orders like the one Trump rescinded against Paul Weiss, which threatened the firms’ access to government officials and federal contracting work.
A judge on Friday struck down Trump’s order against Jenner & Block, following a similar ruling this month for Perkins Coie.
(Reporting by Sara Merken, David Thomas and Mike Scarcella; Editing by David Bario and Chris Reese)
