Damian Williams (Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Back in November, Damian Williams, the first Black person to lead the Southern District of New York, announced he’d be leaving his post as U.S. Attorney. Today, he announced which Biglaw firm had retained his legal talent. And Williams is back to where it all began, joining Paul Weiss, where he started his career as an associate. “This is a real full-circle moment for me,” Williams said in a statement. “It’s an honor to rejoin the firm where my professional journey began.” Of course, this time around, he’ll be a partner at Paul Weiss.
During his time at S.D.N.Y., Williams went after some high-profile folks including Senator Bob Menendez, Ghislaine Maxwell, Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Sam Bankman-Fried, and Archegos Capital Management founder Bill Hwang.
As noted by Bloomberg Law, the litigation department Williams joins has a number of big-name attorneys, including former government lawyers like former Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson.
Paul Weiss Chair Brad Karp was enthusiastic about the firm’s pick-up saying, “We are thrilled to welcome Damian back.”
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @[email protected].