Brad Karp’s Email To Paul Weiss About Its Deal With The Trump Administration

Here’s what Paul Weiss chair Brad Karp sent to his colleagues on Sunday afternoon.

Welcome to Original Jurisdiction, the latest legal publication by me, David Lat. You can learn more about Original Jurisdiction by reading its About page, and you can email me at davidlat@substack.com. This is a reader-supported publication; you can subscribe by clicking here.

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I’m working on a Judicial Notice news roundup that will reference and quote from the message below, which Paul Weiss chair Brad Karp sent to the entire firm within the past hour. I wanted to get this to you, my readers, as soon as possible; Judicial Notice will follow later today. Thanks.

UPDATES:

• 7:52 p.m. Here’s the latest Judicial Notice, containing my thoughts on Brad Karp’s firmwide email.

• 9:49 p.m. For folks who are new to Original Jurisdiction—and I see there are a number of you—check out these stories:

  • Paul Weiss Cuts A Deal With Donald Trump: “[B[y rewarding Trump’s baseless order with a public-relations win, Paul Weiss is only encouraging Trump to issue more meritless orders in the future.”

  • Trump’s Attack On Perkins Coie Sends Chills Down My Spine: “The Order is atrocious and appalling, it sets a terrible precedent, and it deserves strong condemnation from anyone who cares about the rule of law.”

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From: Karp, Brad S
Sent: Sunday, March 23, 2025 2:51 PM
To: GRP-ALL-WW
Subject: Statement to the PW Community

Dear Members of the Paul, Weiss Community,

I wanted to take this opportunity to speak with all of you more fully about the events of recent days. I know that this has been a profoundly unsettling time for all of you. Information gaps have been filled with speculation, concern, and misinformation, and I wanted to take this opportunity to address your concerns directly. Thank you for taking the time to listen.

Late in the evening of Friday, March 14, the President issued an executive order targeting our firm. Since then, we have been facing an unprecedented threat to our firm unlike anything since Samuel Weiss first hung out a shingle in downtown Manhattan on April 1, 1875—almost exactly 150 years ago.

Only several days ago, our firm faced an existential crisis. The executive order could easily have destroyed our firm. It brought the full weight of the government down on our firm, our people, and our clients. In particular, it threatened our clients with the loss of their government contracts, and the loss of access to the government, if they continued to use the firm as their lawyers. And in an obvious effort to target all of you as well as the firm, it raised the specter that the government would not hire our employees.

We were hopeful that the legal industry would rally to our side, even though it had not done so in response to executive orders targeting other firms. We had tried to persuade other firms to come out in public support of Covington and Perkins Coie. And we waited for firms to support us in the wake of the President’s executive order targeting Paul, Weiss. Disappointingly, far from support, we learned that certain other firms were seeking to exploit our vulnerabilities by aggressively soliciting our clients and recruiting our attorneys.

We initially prepared to challenge the executive order in court, and a team of Paul, Weiss attorneys prepared a lawsuit in the finest traditions of the firm. But it became clear that, even if we were successful in initially enjoining the executive order in litigation, it would not solve the fundamental problem, which was that clients perceived our firm as being persona non grata with the Administration. We could prevent the executive order from taking effect, but we couldn’t erase it. Clients had told us that they were not going to be able to stay with us, even though they wanted to. It was very likely that our firm would not be able to survive a protracted dispute with the Administration.

At the same time, we learned that the Administration might be willing to reach a resolution with us. So, working with our outside counsel, we did exactly what we advise our clients to do in “bet the company” litigation every day: we talked with the Administration to see if we could achieve a lasting settlement that would not require us to compromise our core values and fundamental principles.

In a matter of days, we were able to negotiate such a resolution. That resolution, the terms of which I shared with all of you on Thursday evening, had three primary components. First, we reiterated our commitment to viewpoint diversity, including in recruiting and in the intake of new matters. Second, while retaining our longstanding commitment to diversity in all of its forms, we agreed that we would follow the law with respect to our employment practices. And third, we agreed to commit $10 million per year over the next four years in pro bono time in three areas in which we are already doing significant work: assisting our Nation’s veterans, countering anti-Semitism, and promoting the fairness of the justice system.

To be clear, and to clarify misinformation perpetuated from various media sources, the Administration is not dictating what matters we take on, approving our matters, or anything like that. We obviously would not, and could not ethically, have agreed to that. Instead, we have agreed to commit substantial pro bono resources, in addition to the $130+ million we already commit annually, in areas of shared interest. We will continue all of the existing pro bono work we already do and will continue in our longstanding role as a leader of the private bar in the pro bono and public interest sphere.

This existential crisis required the leadership of our law firm to make incredibly difficult decisions under extraordinary time pressure. In making those decisions, we were guided by two fundamental principles. First and foremost, we were guided by our obligation to protect our clients’ interests. As I mentioned earlier, we concluded that even a victory in litigation would not be sufficient to do so, because our firm would still be perceived as persona non grata with the Administration. We simply could not practice law in the Paul, Weiss way if we were still subject to the executive order. This resolution was unambiguously in our clients’ best interests.

Equally important, we were guided by our fiduciary duty to all of you—by our obligation, as stewards of the firm, to protect the livelihoods of the 2,500 lawyers and non-legal professionals who work at Paul, Weiss. That consideration—the need to ensure, above all, that our firm would survive—weighed extremely heavily on all of us, and especially on me, as the leader of the firm.

In today’s political environment, it is unsurprising that the announcement that we have negotiated a resolution with the Administration, rather than fighting it in court, has generated intense feelings across the firm and indeed across the entire legal and broader community. As is often the case in situations like this, the extensive media coverage and social media commentary surrounding recent events has taken on a life of its own, with its own factual narrative and its own momentum. The coverage has been decidedly unhelpful, piecemeal, and incorrect in many fundamental respects. But it is not particularly constructive for any of us involved to debate factual discrepancies. Instead, what is most important is to look to the future. In this regard, I want to provide some clarity and perspective as we move forward.

First, and most important, we have quickly solved a seemingly intractable problem and removed a cloud of uncertainty that was hanging over our law firm. Our clients have been overwhelmingly supportive, expressing relief at the resolution of this situation and the fact that, as the President publicly has acknowledged, our firm now has an engaged and constructive relationship with this Administration. Thousands of clients have reached out directly to express their continued confidence in Paul, Weiss and their appreciation for our unwavering dedication to their matters throughout this period and our ability to quickly secure a resolution that will redound to their benefit. Even those who have expressed personal disappointment that we didn’t fight the Administration have said they fully appreciate what was at stake for our law firm and respect our decision.

Second, the resolution we reached with the Administration will have no effect on our work and our shared culture and values. The core of who we are and what we stand for is and will remain unchanged. To that end, we will continue our proud, century-long legacy of courageously standing up for fundamental rights and liberties, for fairness in the justice system, and for our society’s most vulnerable individuals. That commitment is woven into our DNA; it was and will never be subject to negotiation or compromise.

Third, we will continue to support each of you in your career journey, providing you with the world’s best training and opportunities to advance and thrive in your field. Above all, we will continue to be a place where we enjoy working together; where we respect each other; where we can practice law at the highest levels of excellence.

I know many of you are uncomfortable that we entered into any sort of resolution at all. That is completely understandable. There was no right answer to the predicament in which we found ourselves. All of us have opinions about what is going on right now in America. This is an incredibly consequential moment for our country. It is very easy for commentators to judge our actions from the sidelines. But no one in the wider world can appreciate how stressful it is to confront an executive order like this until one is directed at you.

I want to close by expressing my profound gratitude to each of you. Since March 14, we have seen Paul, Weiss at its very best, supporting each other in the face of an unprecedented threat. You have demonstrated, once again, the extraordinary caliber of our Paul, Weiss community. Your professionalism, your dedication to our clients, your support for one another, and your commitment to our firm have been nothing short of remarkable under these impossibly challenging circumstances. I am confident that, just as we have in past crises, we will get through this together and become even stronger and more resilient as a community.

To that end, my door is open to you as we navigate next steps, as are the doors of firm leadership. This has been a deeply painful experience for me and for the other leaders of the firm. I know it has been a profoundly difficult period for many of you. Since March 14, we have been weathering a terrible storm. But I know that we will get through this storm, and that we will continue to uphold the proud traditions that have defined Paul, Weiss for the last 150 years. I am so thankful for each and every one of you, and for all that you do every day for this very special place and for our broader communities.

Brad

Brad S. Karp | Chairman
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

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