Fifth partner leaves Paul Weiss to join new firm
Kyle Smith, a Washington-based litigator who has represented Amazon, Uber and other clients at Paul Weiss, is the fifth partner to join newly formed Dunn Isaacson Rhee.
Smith, who announced the move in a LinkedIn post on Sunday, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Paul Weiss in March became the first of nine firms that struck deals with the White House to avoid being targeted by President Donald Trump's administration.
The Wall Street firm pledged $40 million in free legal work to mutually agreed causes with the administration in return for Trump rescinding an executive order that threatened the firm's access to government officials and its federal contracting work.
Dunn, a prominent litigator and Washington Democrat, left Paul Weiss on May 23 to found the new firm along with Jeannie Rhee, Bill Isaacson and Jessica Phillips. They did not cite Paul Weiss' deal with Trump in an internal email announcing their departures that was viewed by Reuters.
Last month, former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson retired from Paul Weiss for a leadership post at Columbia University.
Paul Weiss in a statement thanked Smith for his contributions to the firm. Its chairman Brad Karp has defended the agreement with Trump, arguing it was necessary to protect the firm.
Dunn Isaacson Rhee said the new firm would soon formally announce its expanded team. 'Since the news of our firm became public last week, we have received a truly overwhelming amount of support and interest from lawyers and staff who want to join us," the firm said.
The firm since its launch is continuing to represent Google and Qualcomm in litigation, alongside Paul Weiss lawyers that are still on the cases, court records show.
Four firms sued the Trump administration after they were hit with executive orders like the one against Paul Weiss. Judges have permanently struck down the orders in three of the cases so far, ruling that Trump unconstitutionally retaliated against the firms for their past cases and associations.
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