Deal with Trump administration
In 2025, as part of a retaliatory campaign in 2025 by U.S. president Donald Trump against law firms who had represented political opponents of his,[34][35] the firm (along with Perkins Coie) was targeted by the Second Donald Trump administration.[36] Executive order 14237 prohibited Paul, Weiss employees from entering government buildings, working for the government, or having security clearances, citing its diversity, equity, and inclusion policies and the work of former partner Mark F. Pomerantz, who played a leading role in the investigation that ultimately led to Trump's conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records in New York.[36] On March19, Paul, Weiss told a judge in a New Jersey case that it had been fired by a client because of the order.
In contrast to Perkins Coie, which sued and obtained a temporary restraining order against the executive order, on March20, 2025, Paul, Weiss agreed that, in exchange for the order against them being lifted, the firm would commit $40million toward pro bono legal services in support of Trump administration goals and that they would no longer pursue diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.[37][38] Pomerantz, who had been a firm partner until 2022, released a statement saying that he had done nothing wrong in his role as a prosecutor.[39]
The move by Paul, Weiss led other large law firms to sign similar deals with the Trump administration[40] and was widely criticized.[41][42] Over 140 firm alumni wrote a letter saying, "During the first Trump administration, Paul, Weiss lawyers, including many of us, fought to protect civil and human rights with the firm's support [...] That is why it came as a shock to find the firm at the very forefront of capitulation to the Trump administration's bullying tactics."[43] J.Michael Luttig, a judge appointed by George W. Bush, wrote that "Paul, Weiss chose to cower before the powerful and sell out its firm and the nation's legal profession to the President."[44]
According to a March 2025 report by The New Yorker on the negotiations between the Trump administration and Paul, Weiss, the firm's management believed that the price of surrendering to the Trump administration "was tolerable ... fighting the order in court had good prospects of success—but Karp thought that any win would arrive too late."[3] Two granddaughters of Simon Rifkind wrote to Paul, Weiss's managing partner criticizing the firm's decision.[45]
In May 2025, partners Karen Dunn, Bill Isaacson, Jessica Phillips, and Jeannie Rhee departed from Paul, Weiss to start their own firm, Dunn Isaacson Rhee.[46][47] Partner Damian Williams left Paul, Weiss for Jenner & Block in June 2025.[48]
Washington, DC-based analyst Nathan Tankus remarked that the "eagerness" shown by powerful law firms to concede to and enter into agreements with the US government is an "early sign" that American institutions are prepared to engage in "systematic appeasement towards Trump's second presidency."[49]
In August 2025, The New York Times reported that Paul, Weiss was doing free legal work for the United States Department of Commerce.[50]
In October 2025, Fabio Bertoni of The New Yorker opined that Paul, Weiss's decision to fold in response to Trump's "unlawful executive order" against the law firm was "shocking at the time, and was taken as a signal within the profession of where the 'smart money' was betting" helping to set a tone whereby other powerful institutions struggled to resist Trump's threats.[51]
A year later, Bloomberg Law reported, in March 2026, that the firm's agreement with the Trump administration had weakened its reputation, and that other law firms struggled to meet the needs of pro bono work no longer performed by Paul Weiss.[52]
