{"id":108714,"date":"2025-02-20T08:03:19","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T16:03:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/02\/20\/former-ninth-circuit-judge-makes-lateral-move-to-top-20-biglaw-firm\/"},"modified":"2025-02-20T08:03:19","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T16:03:19","slug":"former-ninth-circuit-judge-makes-lateral-move-to-top-20-biglaw-firm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/02\/20\/former-ninth-circuit-judge-makes-lateral-move-to-top-20-biglaw-firm\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Ninth Circuit Judge Makes Lateral Move To Top 20 Biglaw Firm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
(Photo by Bill Clark\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Back in 2023, when Judge Paul Watford of the Ninth Circuit announced that he would be\u00a0resigning from the bench<\/a>\u00a0to return to private practice, the legal world wondered where he would land. As it turns out, Watford chose to join Wilson Sonsini as a litigation partner, where he\u2019d focus on appellate and complex commercial disputes. Now, just two years later, the former appellate judge is on the move again, and this time, he\u2019s headed to an even more prestigious firm.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, Watford joined King & Spalding \u2014 a firm that brought in $2,137,941,000 gross revenue in 2023, putting it at No. 17 on the most recent Am Law 100 \u2014 where he\u2019ll work as a business litigation partner. The Recorder<\/a> has additional details on Watford\u2019s move:<\/p>\n

\n

Watford, who described himself as a litigation generalist, said he hoped to have a mix of 75% trial court work and 25% appellate work. He said his practice is national in scope and that \u201cseveral\u201d of his clients\u2014operating in the technology and life sciences spaces\u2014are moving with him to the new firm, Watford said.<\/p>\n

He said the firm\u2019s collaborative spirit and culture\u2014which he discovered through previously meeting dozens of partners\u2014drew him to King & Spalding. Its L.A. office includes about 75 lawyers.<\/p>\n

When he left the federal bench in 2023, he said he interviewed with King & Spalding and \u201ccame close\u201d to joining it before deciding to join Wilson Sonsini.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love the people, I loved what they were saying about the firm culture, about the opportunities to grow the litigation practice here in Los Angeles and California in general,\u201d Watford said. \u201cEverything about it seemed like a perfect fit for what I want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Damien Marshall, co-leader of the firm\u2019s business litigation practice group, said the former judge\u2019s presence at King & Spalding \u201cbrings a new dimension to the counsel we provide to our clients.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hopeful that I can contribute to the growth of the practice here,\u201d Watford said of his move to the Top 20 Am Law firm.<\/p>\n

Congratulations to Judge Paul Watford on landing at a new law firm that he loves, and congratulations to King & Spalding on adding a former federal appellate judge to its roster. Best of luck!<\/p>\n

Ex-9th Circuit Judge Paul Watford Moves From Wilson Sonsini to King & Spalding In L.A.<\/a> [The Recorder]<\/p>\n

Earlier<\/strong>: From The Bench To Biglaw: Judge Paul Watford Lands At Top 50 Am Law Firm<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\"Staci
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email<\/a> her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Former Ninth Circuit Judge Makes Lateral Move To Top 20 Biglaw Firm<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
(Photo by Bill Clark\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Back in 2023, when Judge Paul Watford of the Ninth Circuit announced that he would be\u00a0resigning from the bench<\/a>\u00a0to return to private practice, the legal world wondered where he would land. As it turns out, Watford chose to join Wilson Sonsini as a litigation partner, where he\u2019d focus on appellate and complex commercial disputes. Now, just two years later, the former appellate judge is on the move again, and this time, he\u2019s headed to an even more prestigious firm.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, Watford joined King & Spalding \u2014 a firm that brought in $2,137,941,000 gross revenue in 2023, putting it at No. 17 on the most recent Am Law 100 \u2014 where he\u2019ll work as a business litigation partner. The Recorder<\/a> has additional details on Watford\u2019s move:<\/p>\n

\n

Watford, who described himself as a litigation generalist, said he hoped to have a mix of 75% trial court work and 25% appellate work. He said his practice is national in scope and that \u201cseveral\u201d of his clients\u2014operating in the technology and life sciences spaces\u2014are moving with him to the new firm, Watford said.<\/p>\n

He said the firm\u2019s collaborative spirit and culture\u2014which he discovered through previously meeting dozens of partners\u2014drew him to King & Spalding. Its L.A. office includes about 75 lawyers.<\/p>\n

When he left the federal bench in 2023, he said he interviewed with King & Spalding and \u201ccame close\u201d to joining it before deciding to join Wilson Sonsini.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love the people, I loved what they were saying about the firm culture, about the opportunities to grow the litigation practice here in Los Angeles and California in general,\u201d Watford said. \u201cEverything about it seemed like a perfect fit for what I want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Damien Marshall, co-leader of the firm\u2019s business litigation practice group, said the former judge\u2019s presence at King & Spalding \u201cbrings a new dimension to the counsel we provide to our clients.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hopeful that I can contribute to the growth of the practice here,\u201d Watford said of his move to the Top 20 Am Law firm.<\/p>\n

Congratulations to Judge Paul Watford on landing at a new law firm that he loves, and congratulations to King & Spalding on adding a former federal appellate judge to its roster. Best of luck!<\/p>\n

Ex-9th Circuit Judge Paul Watford Moves From Wilson Sonsini to King & Spalding In L.A.<\/a> [The Recorder]<\/p>\n

Earlier<\/strong>: From The Bench To Biglaw: Judge Paul Watford Lands At Top 50 Am Law Firm<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\"Staci
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email<\/a> her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Photo by Bill Clark\/Getty Images) Back in 2023, when Judge Paul Watford of the Ninth Circuit announced that he would be\u00a0resigning from the bench\u00a0to return to private practice, the legal world wondered where he would land. As it turns out, Watford chose to join Wilson Sonsini as a litigation partner, where he\u2019d focus on appellate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":108715,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Staci-Zaretsky-ks1D8I.jpeg?fit=150%2C100&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108714\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}