A seventh partner has left Paul Weiss to join a litigation boutique founded in the wake of the firm’s deal with the White House to avoid punitive executive action. 

Melissa Zappala announced on Monday (9 June) that she had joined Washington DC-based Dunn Isaacson Rhee, which was launched last month by a quartet of prominent litigators from Paul Weiss including Karen Dunn, a former campaign adviser to Kamala Harris who had co-chaired the firm’s litigation department.  

Paul Weiss has seen a string of partners exit since it reached the controversial deal with US President Donald Trump in March that meant the executive order targeting it was rescinded. As part of the deal Paul Weiss pledged $40m in pro bono legal work to causes shared with the White House and agreed to “not adopt, use, or pursue any DEI policies”, according to a post by Trump on his social networking site Truth Social. 

Eight more law firms including Kirland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom have since struck similar deals to avoid executive orders, collectively pledging nearly $1bn in pro bono legal services. 

Alongside Dunn, Jeannie Rhee, William Isaacson and Jessica Phillips left Paul Weiss in May to launch the new firm. Collectively they have represented Google, Oracle and Uber and have worked on high-profile pro bono matters including securing a landmark trial victory on behalf of clients injured in the violence during the ‘Unite the Right’ rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. 

Partners Kyle Smith and Rush Atkinson have also joined the new firm from Paul Weiss alongside three associates. 

Most of the partners – Zappala, Dunn, Isaacson, Phillips and Smith – previously worked together at litigation firm Boies Schiller Flexner, leaving over the course of 2020 when the firm underwent a swathe of partner exits following criticism of its work for disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Zappala joined Paul Weiss directly from Boies Schiller and during her time at the firm was seconded to Apple as senior counsel and represented tech giants including Meta and Qualcomm. 

News of her move comes a few days after Jenner & Block announced it had hired Damian Williams, a former US attorney for the Southern District of New York, from Paul Weiss. Jenner is one of four firms alongside Perkins Coie, WilmerHale and litigation firm Susman Godfrey to have sued the Trump administration over executive orders targeting them. Three of the firms have received a permanent injunction while the final decision for the fourth firm – Susman Godfrey – is pending, though in April a judge temporarily blocked the bulk of the order. 

Jeh Johnson, the prominent Democrat and former Homeland Security Secretary, also announced last month he was leaving Paul Weiss, while Steven Banks, who had been head of the firm’s pro bono practice, departed in April citing a desire to return to direct advocacy work.

Skadden has also seen exits in the wake of its March deal with Trump. Kathleen Rubenstein, who had been executive director of the Skadden Foundation since 2019, resigned from the public law interest group last week.