Brad Karp led Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison for 18 years, an interval in which the firm transformed from a high-powered litigation shop to a dominant player in corporate work, enhanced its position as a leader in the industry, and became one of the largest and most profitable law firms in the world. Under his leadership direction, the firm also continued its civil rights legacy, withPaul Weisstaking up-front positions on difficult social issues, often leading the charge to pull Big Law together to affect change. Karp spoke publicly when others wouldn’t. Relentless, tireless advocacy was his calling card.If there was a “face” to Big Law for the last decade, one could argue it was Brad Karp. "You will never meet a harder worker,”one source said, describing his unique attachment and devotion to the firm. “He was and is devoted to that firm,” said the source, an industry observer speaking anonymously to speak candidly about Karp’s record. “It almost had the feel of a religion.” Karp referenced that commitment when defending the move that delivered the first noticeable scratch to his legacy: reaching a deal with President Donald Trump to roll back an executive order imposed on the firm last March. Karp justified the deal in an email to colleagues, telling the firm’s lawyers that the executive order “could easily have destroyed our firm.” Karp also—unlike many leaders of law firms of similar scale—never gave up representing clients during his chairmanship. In recent years, his practice has focused on representing large corporations in federal litigation, including defending the board of directors at JP Morgan Chase in a stockholder derivative suit as well as Temasek Holdings in the multidistrict litigation against now-defunct crypto firm FTX, according to court filings. Other recent clients include Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Blackstone Alternative Asset Management, and the National Football League.Paul Weiss has indicated he plans to continue practicing at the firm. A New Paul Weiss In many ways, though, Karp’s tenure might best be remembered for the transformation that solidified Paul Weiss as the industry heavyweight it is today. “He was an inspirational, brilliant leader who transformed Paul Weiss from being a powerhouse litigation firm with excellent corporate capacity to a global giant. There were great corporate lawyers there, but that's not what firm was known for,” an industry observer said. “And he, through incredibly hard work and sheer force of will, brought in the talent to make the firm a corporate powerhouse at a time when the New York market was more competitive than ever.” The financial numbers speak for themselves. From 2005-24, including Karp’s chairmanship beginning in 2008, the firm’s gross revenue grew by nearly 370%—from $563 million in 2005 to $2.63 billion in 2024. During that time frame, average gross revenue for Am Law 100 firms increased by about 210%.Paul Weiss’ growth in revenue per lawyer (RPL) and profits per equity partner (PEP) also outpaced the Am Law 100 field during that two-decade span.

Karp also oversaw a massive expansion of the firm’s London office, luring prominent Kirkland & Ellis partner Neel Sachdev in what ended up being ayears-long poaching effort that transformed the firm’s presence in the U.K. Those moves didn’t come cheap, but Karp’s ability to build trust with the partnership fueled the expansion efforts, which continue to pay dividends. President Donald Trump’s second term marked the start of a new chapter for the legal industry at large. And Karp and Paul Weiss played alarge role, thanks to his deal with the administration. That deal, deemed by many observers as a capitulation to the Trump administration, was when the public perception of Karp began to shift, according to Cari Brunelle, founding partner of legal industry advisory firm Baretz+Brunelle. “He had been sort of the epitome of an incredible law firm leader, but we’ve seen a lot of change in the last year...a lot of people had recognized it was time for Karp to step down,” she said. Trump turned his attention to the legal system, and law firms specifically. Paul Weiss struck a deal with Trump just a week after he issued his executive order against the firm. Some industry observers believed that Paul Weiss deal emboldened Trump to pressure other law firms into deals. And the Paul Weiss deal was also inconsistent with the firm’s historically progressive legacy, given Karp’s and the firm’s own reputation for taking on more liberal representations. “[Karp’s] being out front on social issues made him a luminary, until he wasn’t. He positioned himself as a social activist. It made his dealing with the Trump administration really disappointing,” said one industry observer, agreeing to speak anonymously to be candid. “For Brad, he was so into liberal causes and the firm's reputation was always on the more liberal side....All of those things combined so that the world had expectations. They were the ones who we thought, 'they would stand up to this.'" Following Paul Weiss’s lead, several other prominent Big Law firms, including Kirkland & Ellis, Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett, and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, all struck their own deals with the White House. While those firms ended up pledging much more in pro bono work and acted before executive orders against them had been issued, Paul Weiss became the face of the legal industry’s perceived retreat from principles. Epstein More recently, Karp’s name surfaced in emails with sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, including messages where Karp appeared to be giving advice to Epstein over his non-prosecution agreement,and where Karp is pushing back against Epstein’s victims. The episode, which exploded this week after the Justice Department’s release of 3 million records at the end of January, proved too problematic for Paul Weiss leaders. In previous statements, the firm defended Karp and said that he never witnessed or participated in any illegal activities, and only corresponded with Epstein because of Paul Weiss’s representation of Leon Black, who had a fee dispute with Epstein. But the most recent batch of emails show Karp’s communications with Epstein were about much more. The newly disclosed emails included dozens of conversations that showed ongoing correspondence up until the months before Epstein’s suicide. “Recent reporting has created a distraction and has placed a focus on me that is not in the best interests of the firm,” Karp said in a statement regarding his resignation as chair this week. “Leading Paul Weiss for the past 18 years has been the honor of my professional life.” Amanda O'Brien contributed to this report.