{"id":155301,"date":"2026-06-23T14:14:05","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T22:14:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/06\/23\/the-firm-that-walked-out-on-paul-weiss-is-now-paying-associates-more-than-paul-weiss\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T14:14:05","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T22:14:05","slug":"the-firm-that-walked-out-on-paul-weiss-is-now-paying-associates-more-than-paul-weiss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/06\/23\/the-firm-that-walked-out-on-paul-weiss-is-now-paying-associates-more-than-paul-weiss\/","title":{"rendered":"The Firm That Walked Out On Paul, Weiss Is Now Paying Associates More Than Paul, Weiss"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In a memo viewed by Above the Law, Dunn Isaacson Rhee, the litigation boutique <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/05\/paul-weiss-rainmakers-bolt-to-start-new-firm-free-of-trump-deal-restrictions\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">founded by Karen Dunn, Bill Isaacson, Jessica Phillips, and Jeannie Rhee after they walked out of Paul Weiss<\/a> rather than live under the terms of that firm\u2019s Trump deal,  is matching the <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2026\/06\/alert-milbank-does-it-again-associate-salaries-are-going-up\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">new Milbank salary scale<\/a>. Associates will see raises of $10,000 to $20,000 depending on class year, with the new scale running from $235,000 for first-years up to $455,000 for the class of 2018 and above. The raises are effective at the end of July.<\/p>\n<p>One note on timing: that\u2019s a few weeks after the July 1 effective date most firms have chosen. But given that this is a firm that is also <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2026\/06\/boutique-firm-hands-out-spring-bonuses-as-compensation-fever-spreads\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">already paying out summer bonuses<\/a>, a few extra weeks is probably not keeping anyone up at night. It should also be noted that Paul, Weiss has not yet announced a salary match. And, while it is likely to do so eventually, it\u2019s still probably a great feeling for those that hitched their star to the Dunn Isaacson Rhee wagon in the wake of the shameful Trump deal.<\/p>\n<p>This continues a pattern at Dunn Isaacson Rhee of paying associates extremely well for a boutique of its size and age. In its first year, the firm handed out year-end bonuses ranging up to $175,000, with no hours requirements attached, <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/12\/boutique-that-broke-away-from-capitulating-biglaw-firm-hands-out-bonuses-that-really-pack-a-punch\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">putting market bonuses to shame<\/a>. The message from the jump has been we left a big firm to build something better, and that includes for our associates.<\/p>\n<p>Congratulations to everyone at Dunn Isaacson Rhee. <\/p>\n<p>Remember everyone, we depend on your tips to stay on top of compensation updates. When your firm matches, please text us <strong>(646-820-8477)<\/strong> or email us (subject line: \u201c[Firm Name] Matches\u201d). Memo preferred, photo works just fine.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><strong><em><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-80083 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/06\/IMG_5243-1-scaled-e1623338814705-620x568.jpg?resize=174%2C160&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"174\" height=\"160\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/1XC11QhFCWxWr4NQrk2sEA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/legaltalknetwork.com\/podcasts\/thinking-like-a-lawyer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:kathryn@abovethelaw.com?subject=Your%20Column\">her<\/a>\u00a0with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Kathryn1\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">@Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/kathryn1.bsky.social\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">@Kathryn1<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2026\/06\/the-firm-that-walked-out-on-paul-weiss-is-now-paying-associates-more-than-paul-weiss\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Firm That Walked Out On Paul, Weiss Is Now Paying Associates More Than Paul, Weiss<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In a memo viewed by Above the Law, Dunn Isaacson Rhee, the litigation boutique <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/05\/paul-weiss-rainmakers-bolt-to-start-new-firm-free-of-trump-deal-restrictions\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">founded by Karen Dunn, Bill Isaacson, Jessica Phillips, and Jeannie Rhee after they walked out of Paul Weiss<\/a> rather than live under the terms of that firm\u2019s Trump deal,  is matching the <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2026\/06\/alert-milbank-does-it-again-associate-salaries-are-going-up\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">new Milbank salary scale<\/a>. Associates will see raises of $10,000 to $20,000 depending on class year, with the new scale running from $235,000 for first-years up to $455,000 for the class of 2018 and above. The raises are effective at the end of July.<\/p>\n<p>One note on timing: that\u2019s a few weeks after the July 1 effective date most firms have chosen. But given that this is a firm that is also <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2026\/06\/boutique-firm-hands-out-spring-bonuses-as-compensation-fever-spreads\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">already paying out summer bonuses<\/a>, a few extra weeks is probably not keeping anyone up at night. It should also be noted that Paul, Weiss has not yet announced a salary match. And, while it is likely to do so eventually, it\u2019s still probably a great feeling for those that hitched their star to the Dunn Isaacson Rhee wagon in the wake of the shameful Trump deal.<\/p>\n<p>This continues a pattern at Dunn Isaacson Rhee of paying associates extremely well for a boutique of its size and age. In its first year, the firm handed out year-end bonuses ranging up to $175,000, with no hours requirements attached, <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/12\/boutique-that-broke-away-from-capitulating-biglaw-firm-hands-out-bonuses-that-really-pack-a-punch\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">putting market bonuses to shame<\/a>. The message from the jump has been we left a big firm to build something better, and that includes for our associates.<\/p>\n<p>Congratulations to everyone at Dunn Isaacson Rhee. <\/p>\n<p>Remember everyone, we depend on your tips to stay on top of compensation updates. When your firm matches, please text us <strong>(646-820-8477)<\/strong> or email us (subject line: \u201c[Firm Name] Matches\u201d). Memo preferred, photo works just fine.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><strong><em><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-80083 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/06\/IMG_5243-1-scaled-e1623338814705-620x568.jpg?resize=174%2C160&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"174\" height=\"160\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/1XC11QhFCWxWr4NQrk2sEA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/legaltalknetwork.com\/podcasts\/thinking-like-a-lawyer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:kathryn@abovethelaw.com?subject=Your%20Column\">her<\/a>\u00a0with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Kathryn1\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">@Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/kathryn1.bsky.social\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">@Kathryn1<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2026\/06\/the-firm-that-walked-out-on-paul-weiss-is-now-paying-associates-more-than-paul-weiss\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Firm That Walked Out On Paul, Weiss Is Now Paying Associates More Than Paul, Weiss<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a memo viewed by Above the Law, Dunn Isaacson Rhee, the litigation boutique founded by Karen Dunn, Bill Isaacson, Jessica Phillips, and Jeannie Rhee after they walked out of Paul Weiss rather than live under the terms of that firm\u2019s Trump deal, is matching the new Milbank salary scale. Associates will see raises of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":155302,"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-155301","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\/06\/IMG_5243-1-scaled-e1623338814705-620x568-pQREQo.jpg?fit=620%2C568&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155301","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=155301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}