Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison

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Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is an United States law firm with well-noted expertise in its corporate, personal representation, entertainment law and litigation practices, having long been a leader among national litigation firms. Paul, Weiss won the honor of having the "litigation department of the year for 2006," according to The American Lawyer. [1] The firm has also gained preeminence for its corporate work in mergers and acquisitions (especially in the private equity arena), investment funds formation, high-yield debt offerings,bankruptcy and corporate reorganization, employee benefits and executive compensation, finance, intellectual property, real estate and tax law.

The firm's lawyers are counsel to many of the world's leading corporations such as Time Warner and Carnival Cruiselines, and financial institutions, particularly staple private equity funds like Oak Hill, General Atlantic Partners, KPS and the Carlyle Group, to name but a few. The firm has received acclaim for its work on behalf of clients in the financial services, communications, technology, media and entertainment fields (entertainment law and personal representation of figures in the entertainment industry has long been one of the firm's key practice areas.)

In addition to its headquarter office in New York, Paul, Weiss maintains a presence in Washington, D.C, London, Tokyo, Beijing and Hong Kong.

A starting first-year associate at Paul Weiss is paid $145,000 per year, according to the Wall Street Journal.

1 Notable Lawyers
2 Notable Alumni
3 Pro bono activities
4 The Sushi Memo and Other Publicity
5 Further reading
6 References

[edit] Notable Lawyers

Ted Wells

[edit] Notable Alumni

The Hon. Simon H. Rifkind
Ramsey Clark
Arthur Goldberg
Arthur L. Liman
Theodore Sorenson
Elliot Spitzer
Adlai Stevenson

[edit] Pro bono activities

Paul, Weiss has also long maintained a strong commitment to diversity and public service, having encouraged their attorneys to undertake pro bono work. The firm is also recognized as being the most diverse law firm in New York, and the second most diverse in the nation. In addition, the firm has received recognition for its pro bono work, and has a long history of such efforts, having helped Thurgood Marshall prepare and argue Brown v. Board of Education. The firm's attorneys have also recently been involved in large scale civil rights litigation in the areas of same-sex marriage and prisoner's rights, thus contributing to American society as a whole.

[edit] The Sushi Memo and Other Publicity

The New York Times has reported on the sushi memo in which a paralegal advises an attorney at length as to where to procure the best sushi near the firm's Rockefeller location. The firm never confirmed the authenticity of the document, which was drafted on Paul Weiss letterhead. Just two months after lauding the Paul Weiss litigation department, industry publication "The American Lawyer" featured an article detailing the working conditions of temporary attorneys. A temporary attorney at the firm complained of being relegated to working in cramped conditions in the [basement] of the building, in rooms littered with cockroaches.