Former US attorney Damian Williams leaves Paul Weiss for Jenner & Block
Damian Williams, the former top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, is leaving the law firm Paul Weiss to join Jenner & Block, defecting from a firm that struck a deal with the Trump administration to sign on with one that fought it in court.
Williams is the highest-profile attorney to join the exodus from firms that made deals with President Donald Trump this year. Trump has roiled the legal profession by targeting some high-profile law firms with punishing executive orders. Some firms sued to challenge his actions. Others instead made deals to avoid similar sanctions, outraging many lawyers within those businesses and across the legal profession.
While a string of attorneys have left those firms in recent weeks, Williams’s departure is notable both because of his prominence and because he is swapping firms that took opposing approaches to Trump’s crackdown.
“I’ve seen firsthand how this firm expertly tackles the toughest cases and lives its values,” Williams said in a statement. “I’m excited to join a team with an extraordinary depth of legal talent that doesn’t shy away from hard fights—and delivers results that matter.”
In March, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison became the first firm to make a deal with Trump. He had targeted the firm with an executive order, then withdrew it after Paul Weiss agreed to provide $40 million worth of pro bono legal services for causes including aiding veterans and fighting antisemitism. Eight other firms soon struck their own deals, and in total, firms have pledged nearly $1 billion in combined pro bono legal services.
Four firms targeted by executive orders—including Jenner & Block—instead filed lawsuits challenging Trump’s sanctions, which they described as threatening their businesses.
In his executive orders, Trump took aim at firms that had employed his perceived foes or taken up causes he disliked. Trump directed the firms to lose government contracts and had their employees blocked from entering federal buildings, interacting with federal officials or being considered for federal jobs.
Judges have ruled in three of those lawsuits so far, decisively siding with the firms and blocking Trump’s orders. U.S. District Judge John D. Bates struck down Trump’s punishments for Jenner & Block last month, writing that Trump’s order against it was “an unconstitutional act of retaliation” and, if left in place, would “strangle Jenner’s ability to attract and retain clients and personnel.”
A fourth lawsuit, filed by the firm Susman Godfrey, is pending, though the judge hearing that case has temporarily blocked most of Trump’s punishments. The Justice Department has not said whether it plans to appeal any of the rulings.
Firms that made deals with Trump’s administration have been rocked by departures as well as internal and external criticism. Attorneys have quit some of those firms in protest, while others have also considered leaving. In some cases, clients have moved work from firms making deals to those fighting in court.
Paul Weiss has seen several attorneys leave in recent weeks, including four partners who left last month to form their own practice. Steven Banks, who led the pro bono practice at Paul Weiss, left the firm last month. He told The Washington Post recently that Trump’s actions against law firms and beyond were intended “to create a chilling effect in all aspects of civil society.”
Firms that made deals, including Paul Weiss, have defended them as necessary. Brad Karp, chairman of Paul Weiss, has written to employees and members of Congress that even if the firm challenged the order in court and won, the business likely would not have survived.
Williams joined Paul Weiss this year, returning to a firm where he had been an associate more than a decade earlier. He had led the storied U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York until late last year, becoming the first Black person to run an office sometimes called the “Sovereign District” due to its tendency to operate independently from Justice Department leadership in Washington.
During Williams’s tenure, the office prosecuted Sen. Bob Menendez (D-New Jersey), who was convicted last year, and indicted New York Mayor Eric Adams in a public corruption case. The Trump administration abandoned that case this year, sparking a crisis in Manhattan and D.C., as several prosecutors resigned rather than work to dismiss the case.
“Damian is an outstanding lawyer with a depth of experience that will help our clients navigate their most pressing and complex challenges,” Tom Perelli, chair of Jenner & Block, said in a statement about Williams.
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