Diversity, interest, and enjoyment are prime criteria in taking on work…dedication to public service and the firm's democratic governance are paramount concerns.    - The American Lawyer

True to our foundations, we nurture creativity, social responsibility, and the dedication to improving our community.

Public Service

Paul, Weiss has always tackled legal issues of the highest significance: matters that have influenced the structure of the nation's economy, the soul of its judicial system and the quality of its public life.

Public service is embedded in the firm's DNA. The lawyers who built Paul, Weiss had been working at the heart of America's civic life for decades, establishing their reputations by helping frame the legal issues wrought by the transformative crises of the early 20th century. Other Paul, Weiss lawyers carry that banner of service forward through to the present day.

Some of the more recognizable names in our firm's public service tradition include:

• Theodore C. Sorensen: President John F. Kennedy's special counsel and adviser; trusted counsel to governments around the world
• Adrian W. DeWind: Former Treasury Department lawyer; tax policy advisor to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson; helped draft of legislation that shaped the postwar federal tax code
• Honorable A. Leon Higginbotham Jr.: Renowned civil rights advocate and Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
• Arthur L. Liman: Chief Counsel to the Senate in the Iran-contra affair investigations; chief counsel to the McKay Commission, investigating the Attica state prison uprising
• Honorable Judge Simon H. Rifkind: As legislative secretary to Senator Robert F. Wagner, helped create important aspects of New Deal legislation, including Section 7(a) of the National Industrial Recovery Act; respected judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
• Lloyd K. Garrison: prominent public service lawyer; helped establish the National Labor Relations Board and the National Labor Relations Act of 1935; defended Langston Hughes and Arthur Miller when they were subpoenaed by the House un-American Activities Committee
• Randolph E. Paul: Treasury Department General Counsel; chief author of the Revenue Act of 1942, which transformed federal income taxation; special adviser to President Truman

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Culture

… one thing that I know is that it is very important that you get yourself early in life into doing something that you enjoy doing. If you don't enjoy it, get out of it and find something else. Because there is no greater joy than to exercise your faculties in a field in which you enjoy exercising them.    - Simon Rifkind, 1984

The culture of Paul, Weiss celebrates the individuality and creativity of our lawyers. As a result, our firm's rich heritage includes extensive work with the arts, education, entertainment and music industries. The videos on this page explore some of the more colorful aspects of this work.

Paul, Weiss Is Home to Nick Nixon's Complete Brown Sisters Portrait Collection

Beginning in 1975, Boston photographer Nicholas Nixon took the first portrait of what became an annual series of portraits of his wife, Bebe, and her three sisters. The project was recently featured in the article "Forty Portraits in Forty Years" in the New York Times. Paul, Weiss has a complete set of "the Brown sisters" photographs in its art collection, one of very few in existence and the firm is one of the few institutions where the entire series is on exhibit every day of the year. The series was acquired, one a year, by corporate counsel Neale Albert, a friend of the photographer and curator of the firm's art collection, which also includes work by photographers such as Lee Friedlander, Annie Leibovitz, Irving Penn, Robert Frank and Joel Sternfeld.

Paul, Weiss Helps Blue School Secure New Permanent Home

After an exhaustive search, Paul, Weiss client The Blue School, an innovative school for young children led by the founders of The Blue Man Group, acquired and financed a landmarked building at 241 Water Street to serve as its new permanent location. Matt Goldman, a Blue School and Blue Man Group co-founder, was quoted in an article in Crain's New York Business.com: "We have been looking for a home for two and a half years," he said. "It feels a little bit like a miracle."

watch a video about the Blue School

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Green Initiative

Paul, Weiss is committed at all levels of the firm to conducting its business in an environmentally sustainable way. Through our Green Initiative, we set specific and measurable goals for the implementation of sustainability-driven initiatives in all aspects of our operations. We are continually searching for new and better ways to play our part in reducing waste, pollution and the emission of greenhouse gases in alignment with science-based targets.

We are currently doing this by:

• using energy-efficient technologies in office lighting, computers, IT services and other areas;
• using post-consumer recycled paper and paper products, and implementing processes to reduce waste in copying and printing;
• taking advantage of all available recycling opportunities, including paper, toner cartridges, aluminum, glass and plastic;
• reducing pollution by employing use of shuttle car-share where possible and using environmentally responsible cleaning products;
• educating our employees as to how they can eliminate waste and improve energy efficiency in day-to-day activities; and
• partnering with building management, outside vendors and clients to discover ways in which we can work together to reduce our collective environmental footprint.

Since 2007, Paul, Weiss has been committed to making strides towards sustainability and demonstrating leadership to our firm and greater community.

We hope that by setting an example of environmental stewardship through real and ongoing change, our firm will inspire our colleagues and our greater communities to also take important action towards environmental sustainability through personal and voluntary efforts.