{"id":150517,"date":"2026-05-06T15:09:59","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T23:09:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/05\/06\/first-the-litigation-partners-left-paul-weiss-now-associates-are-being-pushed-out\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T15:09:59","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T23:09:59","slug":"first-the-litigation-partners-left-paul-weiss-now-associates-are-being-pushed-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/05\/06\/first-the-litigation-partners-left-paul-weiss-now-associates-are-being-pushed-out\/","title":{"rendered":"First The Litigation Partners Left Paul, Weiss. Now Associates Are Being Pushed Out."},"content":{"rendered":"

The top Biglaw recession indicator, stealth layoffs<\/a>, may have arrived! Paul, Weiss has parted ways with an unknown number of associates and multiple insiders describe the move as an instance of stealth layoffs in the firm\u2019s litigation department. The accounts from those reportedly let go should sound awfully familiar to anyone who\u2019s been following this beat.<\/p>\n

For the uninitiated: stealth layoffs<\/a> are a Biglaw specialty. Rather than announce economically motivated headcount reductions, firms quietly push associates out the door using performance reviews as cover \u2014 reviews that, coincidentally, turn suddenly negative right when business slows down. The associates let go frequently have no prior history of negative feedback. It\u2019s a toxic business practice placing the blame on the attorneys themselves, rather than acknowledging the economic reality driving the decision.<\/p>\n

On Reddit<\/a>, the Paul, Weiss tipsters are unambiguous about what\u2019s happening:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cTo those saying it\u2019s unsubstantiated: it happened to me. Since the firm doesn\u2019t exactly announce you\u2019ve been let go, it\u2019s hard to know how many people this has affected. But the other comment here saying that they do it by giving you bogus negative performance reviews that are uncorroborated by the actual teams you work with is exactly what happened to me. When I asked what the actual problem with my performance was, all I got was the vaguest \u2018feedback\u2019 ever about attention to detail or something like that (mind you, I had only ever gotten positive feedback, and never had any complaints before about my attention to detail). I immediately clocked that the firm was making up a performance reason for what is essentially a layoff due to persistent slowness in the litigation dept. This suggested to me that this was probably happening across the department rather than anything to do with me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

A second source echoes this assessment:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cLaid off PW assoc here \u2014 can confirm. They\u2019re doing it as bogus performance-based sendoffs \u2014 bogus because most affected folks are getting negative feedback in the annual review that none of the individual teams are corroborating. And it\u2019s happened to many of us. The party line at P,W has consistently been \u2018oh we would never do layoffs. Didn\u2019t do it during the 2008 recession, didn\u2019t do it during the 2022 Biglaw layoffs, and certainly not now.\u2019 But I\u2019ve learned the hard way that they do plenty of stealth layoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That boast \u2014 that Paul, Weiss doesn\u2019t do layoffs, not even during downturns \u2014 is a particularly bitter pill, because it\u2019s been used to burnish the firm\u2019s reputation as a good place to work. And now, multiple associates say they\u2019ve been handed suddenly invented performance problems by a firm that is manifestly dealing with something much bigger than their attention to detail.<\/p>\n

We reached out to Paul, Weiss for comment, and a spokesperson provided the following statement: \u201cThere were no layoffs. These were performance-based decisions based on the review process we conduct every year.\u201d<\/p>\n

That response is, word for word, the stealth layoff script<\/a>. Repackaging economic cuts as performance decisions, all while insisting no layoffs occurred, is how a stealth layoff works. It\u2019s of course possible for a firm to part ways with an associate for \u201cperformance-based\u201d reasons. But the language of the firm statement \u2014 speaking in plurals<\/em> \u2014 suggests a broader swath than terminating a perpetual underperformer. Add in insider accounts describing associates with clean records, whose teams never flagged a problem, and suddenly negative annual reviews, and everything sure sounds like a stealth layoff.<\/p>\n

While most stealth layoffs are nakedly cynical, some firms might genuinely delude themselves into thinking they\u2019re just making performance cuts. Except, if the firm is honest with itself, the associates involved never did anything that would merit termination until the business environment changed. Tiny shortcomings, the natural byproduct of a lawyer-in-training, get magnified into unforgivable sins \u2014 for the first time in their whole career \u2014 just as the firm needs to cut headcount.<\/p>\n

To understand why the litigation department would be slow right now, you have to understand what has happened to Paul, Weiss over the past year<\/a>. In March 2025, the firm became the first \u2014 and most infamous \u2014 Biglaw shop to cut a deal with the Trump administration<\/a>, surrendering $40 million in pro bono services and its DEI programs to get out from under an executive order targeting the firm. The fallout, which we\u2019ve documented extensively<\/a>, has been severe \u2014 and nowhere more than in litigation.<\/p>\n

Litigation co-chair Karen Dunn, along with partners Bill Isaacson, Jeannie Rhee, and Jessica Phillips, bolted to start their own boutique<\/a> free from the constraints of the Trump deal. Former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams departed for Jenner & Block \u2014 a firm actually fighting the executive orders in court<\/a>. Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson retired after 40 years at the firm. And most recently, Kannon Shanmugam \u2014 one of the most accomplished Supreme Court advocates in private practice \u2014 left for Davis Polk<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a bunch of litigation talent walking out the door. And when the partners leave, the work tends to follow. Which means fewer matters to staff, fewer hours to bill, and a department carrying more associates than it now has work to sustain. The associates absorbing that slowdown aren\u2019t the ones who made the decisions that caused it, but they will be the ones paying the price.<\/p>\n

Which brings us back to those suddenly vague performance reviews.<\/p>\n

The structural reality at Paul, Weiss makes all of this entirely predictable. New chair Scott Barshay \u2014 an M&A heavyweight who was reportedly a major internal champion of the Trump deal<\/a> \u2014 has been steadily remaking the firm in a transactional image<\/a>. Associate staffing is now more tightly controlled. The firm\u2019s identity has shifted from \u201clitigation powerhouse with a conscience\u201d to \u201cM&A juggernaut with a carefully managed personality.\u201d As a former Paul, Weiss attorney told the American Lawyer when Barshay took the reins: \u201cThe litigators have never been led by a corporate partner. Will the litigation team have an issue with the firm becoming really a corporate shop with a litigation arm, rather than the other way?\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

A litigation department hemorrhaging partner talent, led by a firm chair whose future seems transactional, is exactly the environment where you\u2019d expect stealth layoffs<\/a> to emerge. Work slows. Headcount that made sense when Karen Dunn was running a booming litigation practice doesn\u2019t make sense anymore. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s the recipe for a stealth layoff.<\/p>\n

If this has happened to you at Paul, Weiss \u2014 or anywhere else \u2014 please reach out. You can email us (tips@abovethelaw.com) or text us (646-820-8477). Even if we are unable to verify the move, we are listening.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019d like to sign up for ATL\u2019s Layoff Alerts, please scroll down and enter your email address in the box below this post.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of\u00a0The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of\u00a0Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email\u00a0her<\/a>\u00a0with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post First The Litigation Partners Left Paul, Weiss. Now Associates Are Being Pushed Out.<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

The top Biglaw recession indicator, stealth layoffs<\/a>, may have arrived! Paul, Weiss has parted ways with an unknown number of associates and multiple insiders describe the move as an instance of stealth layoffs in the firm\u2019s litigation department. The accounts from those reportedly let go should sound awfully familiar to anyone who\u2019s been following this beat.<\/p>\n

For the uninitiated: stealth layoffs<\/a> are a Biglaw specialty. Rather than announce economically motivated headcount reductions, firms quietly push associates out the door using performance reviews as cover \u2014 reviews that, coincidentally, turn suddenly negative right when business slows down. The associates let go frequently have no prior history of negative feedback. It\u2019s a toxic business practice placing the blame on the attorneys themselves, rather than acknowledging the economic reality driving the decision.<\/p>\n

On Reddit<\/a>, the Paul, Weiss tipsters are unambiguous about what\u2019s happening:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cTo those saying it\u2019s unsubstantiated: it happened to me. Since the firm doesn\u2019t exactly announce you\u2019ve been let go, it\u2019s hard to know how many people this has affected. But the other comment here saying that they do it by giving you bogus negative performance reviews that are uncorroborated by the actual teams you work with is exactly what happened to me. When I asked what the actual problem with my performance was, all I got was the vaguest \u2018feedback\u2019 ever about attention to detail or something like that (mind you, I had only ever gotten positive feedback, and never had any complaints before about my attention to detail). I immediately clocked that the firm was making up a performance reason for what is essentially a layoff due to persistent slowness in the litigation dept. This suggested to me that this was probably happening across the department rather than anything to do with me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

A second source echoes this assessment:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cLaid off PW assoc here \u2014 can confirm. They\u2019re doing it as bogus performance-based sendoffs \u2014 bogus because most affected folks are getting negative feedback in the annual review that none of the individual teams are corroborating. And it\u2019s happened to many of us. The party line at P,W has consistently been \u2018oh we would never do layoffs. Didn\u2019t do it during the 2008 recession, didn\u2019t do it during the 2022 Biglaw layoffs, and certainly not now.\u2019 But I\u2019ve learned the hard way that they do plenty of stealth layoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That boast \u2014 that Paul, Weiss doesn\u2019t do layoffs, not even during downturns \u2014 is a particularly bitter pill, because it\u2019s been used to burnish the firm\u2019s reputation as a good place to work. And now, multiple associates say they\u2019ve been handed suddenly invented performance problems by a firm that is manifestly dealing with something much bigger than their attention to detail.<\/p>\n

We reached out to Paul, Weiss for comment, and a spokesperson provided the following statement: \u201cThere were no layoffs. These were performance-based decisions based on the review process we conduct every year.\u201d<\/p>\n

That response is, word for word, the stealth layoff script<\/a>. Repackaging economic cuts as performance decisions, all while insisting no layoffs occurred, is how a stealth layoff works. It\u2019s of course possible for a firm to part ways with an associate for \u201cperformance-based\u201d reasons. But the language of the firm statement \u2014 speaking in plurals<\/em> \u2014 suggests a broader swath than terminating a perpetual underperformer. Add in insider accounts describing associates with clean records, whose teams never flagged a problem, and suddenly negative annual reviews, and everything sure sounds like a stealth layoff.<\/p>\n

While most stealth layoffs are nakedly cynical, some firms might genuinely delude themselves into thinking they\u2019re just making performance cuts. Except, if the firm is honest with itself, the associates involved never did anything that would merit termination until the business environment changed. Tiny shortcomings, the natural byproduct of a lawyer-in-training, get magnified into unforgivable sins \u2014 for the first time in their whole career \u2014 just as the firm needs to cut headcount.<\/p>\n

To understand why the litigation department would be slow right now, you have to understand what has happened to Paul, Weiss over the past year<\/a>. In March 2025, the firm became the first \u2014 and most infamous \u2014 Biglaw shop to cut a deal with the Trump administration<\/a>, surrendering $40 million in pro bono services and its DEI programs to get out from under an executive order targeting the firm. The fallout, which we\u2019ve documented extensively<\/a>, has been severe \u2014 and nowhere more than in litigation.<\/p>\n

Litigation co-chair Karen Dunn, along with partners Bill Isaacson, Jeannie Rhee, and Jessica Phillips, bolted to start their own boutique<\/a> free from the constraints of the Trump deal. Former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams departed for Jenner & Block \u2014 a firm actually fighting the executive orders in court<\/a>. Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson retired after 40 years at the firm. And most recently, Kannon Shanmugam \u2014 one of the most accomplished Supreme Court advocates in private practice \u2014 left for Davis Polk<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a bunch of litigation talent walking out the door. And when the partners leave, the work tends to follow. Which means fewer matters to staff, fewer hours to bill, and a department carrying more associates than it now has work to sustain. The associates absorbing that slowdown aren\u2019t the ones who made the decisions that caused it, but they will be the ones paying the price.<\/p>\n

Which brings us back to those suddenly vague performance reviews.<\/p>\n

The structural reality at Paul, Weiss makes all of this entirely predictable. New chair Scott Barshay \u2014 an M&A heavyweight who was reportedly a major internal champion of the Trump deal<\/a> \u2014 has been steadily remaking the firm in a transactional image<\/a>. Associate staffing is now more tightly controlled. The firm\u2019s identity has shifted from \u201clitigation powerhouse with a conscience\u201d to \u201cM&A juggernaut with a carefully managed personality.\u201d As a former Paul, Weiss attorney told the American Lawyer when Barshay took the reins: \u201cThe litigators have never been led by a corporate partner. Will the litigation team have an issue with the firm becoming really a corporate shop with a litigation arm, rather than the other way?\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

A litigation department hemorrhaging partner talent, led by a firm chair whose future seems transactional, is exactly the environment where you\u2019d expect stealth layoffs<\/a> to emerge. Work slows. Headcount that made sense when Karen Dunn was running a booming litigation practice doesn\u2019t make sense anymore. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s the recipe for a stealth layoff.<\/p>\n

If this has happened to you at Paul, Weiss \u2014 or anywhere else \u2014 please reach out. You can email us ([email\u00a0protected]<\/a>) or text us (646-820-8477). Even if we are unable to verify the move, we are listening.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019d like to sign up for ATL\u2019s Layoff Alerts, please scroll down and enter your email address in the box below this post.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of\u00a0The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of\u00a0Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email\u00a0her<\/a>\u00a0with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The top Biglaw recession indicator, stealth layoffs, may have arrived! Paul, Weiss has parted ways with an unknown number of associates and multiple insiders describe the move as an instance of stealth layoffs in the firm\u2019s litigation department. The accounts from those reportedly let go should sound awfully familiar to anyone who\u2019s been following this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":150518,"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-150517","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\/2026\/05\/IMG_5243-1-scaled-e1623338814705-620x568-P3zcso.jpg?fit=620%2C568&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150517","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=150517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150517\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}