Paul Weiss: Somehow All That Poaching Doesn't Seem All That Much of a Risk

  "Elizabeth Stotland Weiswasser and Anish Desai [from Weil Gotshal] are joining Paul Weiss as partners in its litigation department ... The pair has represented tobacco giant Altria Inc., as well as pharmaceutical companies Sanofi-Aventis and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc." - Bloomberg Law, November 20, 2024

This broadens the focus of Paul Weiss' aggressive poaching to rainmakers in trial work. The two specialize in patent litigation. Weiswasser will be one of the five litigation co-chairs at Paul Weiss.

A lot of the watchers of this firm's escalating pace of high-profile lateral hires will probably now stop issuing warnings - like a Greek Chorus. Those chanted that Paul Weiss could be heading into a Dewey & Leboeuf kind of disaster. Part of the reason Dewey & Leboeuf went kaput was that it chased rapid growth through what Paul Weiss is doing right now: Recruiting and retaining brandname talent through nosebleed compensation, along with multi-year guarantees for that. 

The professional anonymous networks such as Reddit and Fishbowl are also likely to back off questioning if there will be a proper ROI for bringing in these stars. How about if they don't perform as expected? That was frequently posted on the networks as queries. 

The noise is bound to lessen because law firms such as Paul Weiss currently have the money to take these kinds of risks. As Law.com reports, there have been both:

Double digit profit growth

Billing rate hikes.

In term of its financials, Paul Weiss has a hell of a margin for error:

"Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, citing growth in all five of its core practice areas, saw its overall revenue climb 10.9% to $2 billion, a firm high. Paul Weiss also crossed the $6.5 million mark in profits per equity partner for the first time, also a firm record."

However, there remains the challenge for Paul Weiss to develop a presence in Houston. Energy is among the practices where the action is. Unless you're in Houston you can't really be a prominent player. Paul Weiss' poaching strategies haven't seduced the big names in Houston from their law firms, at least not yet. 

In coaching I tutor clients on how relative risk is. In the tarot, the first card in the deck is The Fool. That symbolizes how complex the concept of risk is. 



Life is hard. Business is even more difficult these days. Get answers – and relief. Jane Genova is a results-driven confidential intuitive coach, tarot reader and content-creator related to careers. Complimentary consultation (please text/phone 203-468-8579 or email janegenova374@gmail.com)

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