Damian Williams Former SDNY US Attorney Joins Paul, Weiss

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP announced today that Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 2021 to 2024, will join the firm as a partner in the Litigation Department. Williams will draw on his extensive government and leadership experience to represent clients in high-stakes federal and state government investigations, white-collar matters and sensitive internal investigations.

“We are thrilled to welcome Damian back to Paul, Weiss,” said Paul, Weiss Chairman Brad S. Karp. “Damian is a transcendently talented lawyer who has led many of the government’s highest-profile prosecutions and investigations. He will be an exceptional addition to our already outstanding team of white collar and regulatory lawyers and a leader in the national legal community.”

Williams joined the SDNY U.S. Attorney’s office in 2012 as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, and was appointed Chief of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force in 2018. In that role, he supervised a team of senior prosecutors handling securities and commodities fraud investigations and prosecutions. In 2021, he was confirmed as the U.S. Attorney, becoming the first Black U.S. Attorney in the Southern District. At the office, Williams led a staff of more than 450 and oversaw dozens of high-profile investigations and prosecutions of prominent business executives, government officials and others. Among his many accomplishments, Williams created a civil rights unit in the SDNY’s criminal division to combat a rise in hate crimes; sought a court-appointed receiver for Rikers Island and other city jails; and launched an initiative to fast-track high-priority evidence extraction that modernized how prosecutors obtain, analyze and use data. Williams’ tenure as U.S. Attorney is widely recognized as one of the most productive in the Southern District’s history.

Williams began his legal career as an associate at Paul, Weiss from July 2009 to January 2012.

“Working with Damian as a young associate was a true pleasure, and I could not be happier that he has chosen to rejoin us for the next chapter of his extraordinary career,” said Ted Wells, co-chair of the Litigation Department.

“This is a real full-circle moment for me, and it’s an honor to rejoin the firm where my professional journey began,” Williams said. “Paul, Weiss is the gold standard of law firms, and I am thrilled at the opportunity to practice at a firm that epitomizes professional excellence, backed by a culture of collaboration and devotion to pro bono and public engagement.”

Williams has received numerous accolades for his achievements, including the Metropolitan Black Bar Association’s Trailblazer of the Year award; TIME Magazine’s Time100 Next 2024 recognition for emerging global leaders; and a 2024 Cressey Award, presented by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, recognizing lifetime achievement in the detection and deterrence of fraud. He is an active speaker on fraud, financial crime, investigations and other white-collar crime topics.

Williams earned an A.B. in economics from Harvard University, an M.Phil. in international relations from the University of Cambridge, and a J.D. from Yale Law School, where he was editor of the Yale Law Journal. Williams served as a law clerk for Justice John Paul Stevens on the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge Merrick B. Garland on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.