Two more senior attorneys at Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison have left to join a boutique litigation firm that was founded by a set of ex-Paul Weiss partners.
Martha Goodman and Amy Mauser joined Dunn Isaacson Rhee, according to social media posts by Goodman on Sunday and Mauser on Monday. Goodman and Mauser are the eighth and ninth partners to leave Paul Weiss for the spinoff.
Paul Weiss is seeing a stream of partners and associates head for the door after reaching a deal with President Donald Trump, in which the White House rescinded an executive order targeting the firm for its ties to lawyers the president perceives as enemies. The firm promised Trump $40 million in free legal services on shared causes, including combating antisemitism and ensuring “fairness in the justice system.” Eight other firms later reached similar deals to proactively avoid executive orders, pledging a total of nearly $1 billion in free legal services.
Partners Karen Dunn, Jeannie Rhee, William Isaacson, and Jessica Phillips left Paul Weiss in late May to launch the new firm. It later added Paul Weiss attorneys Kyle Smith, Rush Atkinson and Melissa Zappala and scooped up some associates, including Elizabeth Brandt, Ben Cabranes, Bryon Becker, Annelise Corriveau, and Anita Liu. The spinoff currently weighs in at 17 lawyers.
The named partners’ clients have included tech giants such as
Several Dunn Isaacson attorneys previously worked together in the Manhattan office of Boies Schiller, before departing that firm amid criticism over its work for Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein and Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes. Goodman, Mauser, Smith and Zappala were part of the group who left Boies Schiller.
Goodman and Mauser are part of team currently defending Google from antitrust allegations by the Justice Department. Paul Weiss partners who are also on the Google antitrust matter and remain at Paul Weiss include Meredith Dearborn, Joseph Bial, Erin Morgan, and Kannon Shanmugam.
Paul Weiss said of the latest departees “We thank them for their contributions and wish them well.” Dunn Isaacson turned down a request for comment.
Earlier this month former Manhattan US Attorney Damian Williams left Paul Weiss for Jenner & Block, one of four law firms hit by executive orders who opted to fight Trump in court. Three of the firms have secured court rulings striking down the orders, while the fourth is waiting for a judge to rule after temporarily blocking much of the order against it.
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