What's going on at Paul, Weiss? Forum

[Anonymous User]

PW is doing fine. It's solidly in the tier just below Cravath and Wachtell

it's literally in the same tier as csm these days...

Don't engage with this guy. There's some (probably ex/current Cravath associate) going around in each thread desperately trying to make a Cravath/Wachtell tier as a delineation happen.

[Anonymous User]

PW is doing fine. It's solidly in the tier just below Cravath and Wachtell

it's literally in the same tier as csm these days...

Don't engage with this guy. There's some (probably ex/current Cravath associate) going around in each thread desperately trying to make a Cravath/Wachtell tier as a delineation happen.

He was doxxed in the other thread. Last name is Vault.

[Anonymous User]

PW is doing fine. It's solidly in the tier just below Cravath and Wachtell

it's literally in the same tier as csm these days...

lol what

[Anonymous User]

I like the point about "growing pains" [from Kirklandization] coming for all white shoe firms. DPW seems to be managing it very well so far, with an incredibly aggressive lateral hiring regimen that's literally turned Cravath into a partner farm but that hasn't [yet?] seemed to affect its old school, genteel culture. STB stemmed the losses to Kirkland maybe 5-6 years ago, hasn't lost [any?] major corporate partners recently, and is only now starting to wade into the lateral partner market for more niche/non-corporate roles. Though, will note that the security is largely attributable to the firm starting a non-equity tier to prop up profits and keep equity partners happy (at least imo). S&C general corporate has remained largely untouched since Krishna left, so I'd say they've been the most aloof and "safest" from Kirklandization thus far. They also haven't done much lateral hiring, except Blass, which is super recent. Cravath made big bets with its D.C. office and the hiring of those two partners from Shearman (idk what the play is there). They've already lost on the Portilla bet and profits in recent years, while superb, are starting to lag behind their peers and falling more in line with Weil or Debevoise (still printing cash, of course!), so who knows if they'll have enough firepower to attract lateral stars going forward. Wachtell...well, they're special, so I guess we don't need to talk about them.

Viewed in light of its peers, then, PW doesn't seem to be doing "bad" or suffering anything particularly concerning. It still only has a single tier of equity partners and its core strengths in PE and public M&A remain pretty robust. But it definitely needs to figure out where it stands on the "lockstep/genteel" to "EWYK/money is king" spectrum, bc like someone else said, it's difficult--and unwise, from a business/hiring perspective--to straddle the nebulous no man's land.

Perhaps unknown but does anyone have guesses into why Portilla ended up at DPW? The Cravath hires into the DC office were all government revolving door, so I don't think that's necessarily indicative of a shift in approach.

Also think that Katie Sudol going from STB -> KKR seems like a major win in their continued battle with Kirkland over the PE market. I am curious how the spread between the two looks now that rates are up and work has slowed.

All my friends at DPW genuinely enjoy working there, so I genuinely buy that they've preserve their culture despite shifting to a pretty lateral-friendly model. Which, like, surprising. Would have thought that the shift to modified lock step + dramatic increase in PPP + increased laterals would have led to a more EWYK/cutthroat culture.

S&C somehow flys a bit under the radar on the lateral stuff. Doesn't seem like they really bleed laterals (outside of Krishna) and it doesn't seem like they are seeking laterals from other firms-the major partner hires seem to be government revolving door, including Blass/the Trump SG office.

Don't know enough about Weil/Deb/Cleary to comment on that. Wachtell is Wachtell. They don't bleed partners and won't lose work.

[Anonymous User]

I like the point about "growing pains" [from Kirklandization] coming for all white shoe firms. DPW seems to be managing it very well so far, with an incredibly aggressive lateral hiring regimen that's literally turned Cravath into a partner farm but that hasn't [yet?] seemed to affect its old school, genteel culture. STB stemmed the losses to Kirkland maybe 5-6 years ago, hasn't lost [any?] major corporate partners recently, and is only now starting to wade into the lateral partner market for more niche/non-corporate roles. Though, will note that the security is largely attributable to the firm starting a non-equity tier to prop up profits and keep equity partners happy (at least imo). S&C general corporate has remained largely untouched since Krishna left, so I'd say they've been the most aloof and "safest" from Kirklandization thus far. They also haven't done much lateral hiring, except Blass, which is super recent. Cravath made big bets with its D.C. office and the hiring of those two partners from Shearman (idk what the play is there). They've already lost on the Portilla bet and profits in recent years, while superb, are starting to lag behind their peers and falling more in line with Weil or Debevoise (still printing cash, of course!), so who knows if they'll have enough firepower to attract lateral stars going forward. Wachtell...well, they're special, so I guess we don't need to talk about them.

Viewed in light of its peers, then, PW doesn't seem to be doing "bad" or suffering anything particularly concerning. It still only has a single tier of equity partners and its core strengths in PE and public M&A remain pretty robust. But it definitely needs to figure out where it stands on the "lockstep/genteel" to "EWYK/money is king" spectrum, bc like someone else said, it's difficult--and unwise, from a business/hiring perspective--to straddle the nebulous no man's land.

Perhaps unknown but does anyone have guesses into why Portilla ended up at DPW? The Cravath hires into the DC office were all government revolving door, so I don't think that's necessarily indicative of a shift in approach.

Also think that Katie Sudol going from STB -> KKR seems like a major win in their continued battle with Kirkland over the PE market. I am curious how the spread between the two looks now that rates are up and work has slowed.

All my friends at DPW genuinely enjoy working there, so I genuinely buy that they've preserve their culture despite shifting to a pretty lateral-friendly model. Which, like, surprising. Would have thought that the shift to modified lock step + dramatic increase in PPP + increased laterals would have led to a more EWYK/cutthroat culture.

S&C somehow flys a bit under the radar on the lateral stuff. Doesn't seem like they really bleed laterals (outside of Krishna) and it doesn't seem like they are seeking laterals from other firms-the major partner hires seem to be government revolving door, including Blass/the Trump SG office.

Don't know enough about Weil/Deb/Cleary to comment on that. Wachtell is Wachtell. They don't bleed partners and won't lose work.

Portilla was an associate at DPW before he left for Treasury, so maybe it's a bit of a homecoming for him? Agree that Sudol at KKR is huge for STB. Will be interesting to see who succeeds Finley when he steps down. And yes, DPW staying DPW (at least for now) is pretty impressive. Friends don't seem to complain about any change in culture, so kudos to firm management, I guess.

[Anonymous User]

I like the point about "growing pains" [from Kirklandization] coming for all white shoe firms. DPW seems to be managing it very well so far, with an incredibly aggressive lateral hiring regimen that's literally turned Cravath into a partner farm but that hasn't [yet?] seemed to affect its old school, genteel culture. STB stemmed the losses to Kirkland maybe 5-6 years ago, hasn't lost [any?] major corporate partners recently, and is only now starting to wade into the lateral partner market for more niche/non-corporate roles. Though, will note that the security is largely attributable to the firm starting a non-equity tier to prop up profits and keep equity partners happy (at least imo). S&C general corporate has remained largely untouched since Krishna left, so I'd say they've been the most aloof and "safest" from Kirklandization thus far. They also haven't done much lateral hiring, except Blass, which is super recent. Cravath made big bets with its D.C. office and the hiring of those two partners from Shearman (idk what the play is there). They've already lost on the Portilla bet and profits in recent years, while superb, are starting to lag behind their peers and falling more in line with Weil or Debevoise (still printing cash, of course!), so who knows if they'll have enough firepower to attract lateral stars going forward. Wachtell...well, they're special, so I guess we don't need to talk about them.

Viewed in light of its peers, then, PW doesn't seem to be doing "bad" or suffering anything particularly concerning. It still only has a single tier of equity partners and its core strengths in PE and public M&A remain pretty robust. But it definitely needs to figure out where it stands on the "lockstep/genteel" to "EWYK/money is king" spectrum, bc like someone else said, it's difficult--and unwise, from a business/hiring perspective--to straddle the nebulous no man's land.

Perhaps unknown but does anyone have guesses into why Portilla ended up at DPW? The Cravath hires into the DC office were all government revolving door, so I don't think that's necessarily indicative of a shift in approach.

Also think that Katie Sudol going from STB -> KKR seems like a major win in their continued battle with Kirkland over the PE market. I am curious how the spread between the two looks now that rates are up and work has slowed.

All my friends at DPW genuinely enjoy working there, so I genuinely buy that they've preserve their culture despite shifting to a pretty lateral-friendly model. Which, like, surprising. Would have thought that the shift to modified lock step + dramatic increase in PPP + increased laterals would have led to a more EWYK/cutthroat culture.

S&C somehow flys a bit under the radar on the lateral stuff. Doesn't seem like they really bleed laterals (outside of Krishna) and it doesn't seem like they are seeking laterals from other firms-the major partner hires seem to be government revolving door, including Blass/the Trump SG office.

Don't know enough about Weil/Deb/Cleary to comment on that. Wachtell is Wachtell. They don't bleed partners and won't lose work.

Portilla was an associate at DPW before he left for Treasury, so maybe it's a bit of a homecoming for him? Agree that Sudol at KKR is huge for STB. Will be interesting to see who succeeds Finley when he steps down. And yes, DPW staying DPW (at least for now) is pretty impressive. Friends don't seem to complain about any change in culture, so kudos to firm management, I guess.

Must be, right? Just don't know why he dipped after bringing in several significant bank transactions w CSM

I imagine Blackstone will promote internally, no? Not like succession has gone unplanned. But yeah. Not DPW myself but seems like they did a decent job keeping it how it was. Not that you can change the culture in a 700 person firm all that meaningfully, all that quickly

[Anonymous User]

One example of culture change I heard of through the grapevine (ex-PW, though not Corporate):

A senior associate passed away unexpectedly during the pandemic. Well-liked guy, and from I heard, great lawyer as well.

There was a memorial for him in Jersey City (or maybe Hoboken?) that was live-streamed to the firm.

One of the PW Corp partners spoke at it. His eulogy was literally just listing deals this associate had worked on, including dollar amounts.

A number of the partners that this associate worked very closely with didn't go to the memorial. Not only that, some of them scheduled calls during the memorial.

Perhaps this wasn't necessarily a culture change, but rather goes to show how callous law firm partners can generally be. I do remember hearing a number of associates being shocked at how poorly the firm handled it though - the old "post your job opening before your obituary" coming true.

[Anonymous User]

One example of culture change I heard of through the grapevine (ex-PW, though not Corporate):

A senior associate passed away unexpectedly during the pandemic. Well-liked guy, and from I heard, great lawyer as well.

There was a memorial for him in Jersey City (or maybe Hoboken?) that was live-streamed to the firm.

One of the PW Corp partners spoke at it. His eulogy was literally listing deals this associate had worked on, including dollar amounts.

A number of the partners that this associate worked with didn't go to the memorial. Not only that, some of them scheduled calls during the memorial.

Perhaps this wasn't necessarily a culture change, but rather goes to show how callous law firm partners can generally be. I do remember hearing a number of associates being shocked at how poorly the firm handled it though - the old "post your job opening before your obituary" coming true.

The poster above is right to point out this example as indicative of a culture. I’d like to know of firms with leaders who go out of their way gather people in appropriate ways during incidents like untimely deaths or severe accidents.

[Joachim2017]

One example of culture change I heard of through the grapevine (ex-PW, though not Corporate):

A senior associate passed away unexpectedly during the pandemic. Well-liked guy, and from I heard, great lawyer as well.

There was a memorial for him in Jersey City (or maybe Hoboken?) that was live-streamed to the firm.

One of the PW Corp partners spoke at it. His eulogy was literally listing deals this associate had worked on, including dollar amounts.

A number of the partners that this associate worked with didn't go to the memorial. Not only that, some of them scheduled calls during the memorial.

Perhaps this wasn't necessarily a culture change, but rather goes to show how callous law firm partners can generally be. I do remember hearing a number of associates being shocked at how poorly the firm handled it though - the old "post your job opening before your obituary" coming true.

Jesus. I get that this is one anecdote, but I agree it is valuable and indicative as a window into the group. Including the dollar amounts? Scheduling calls at the same time as the memorial? Disgusting. Surprised PW didn't get more criticism for this.

[Anonymous User]

One example of culture change I heard of through the grapevine (ex-PW, though not Corporate):

A senior associate passed away unexpectedly during the pandemic. Well-liked guy, and from I heard, great lawyer as well.

There was a memorial for him in Jersey City (or maybe Hoboken?) that was live-streamed to the firm.

One of the PW Corp partners spoke at it. His eulogy was literally listing deals this associate had worked on, including dollar amounts.

A number of the partners that this associate worked with didn't go to the memorial. Not only that, some of them scheduled calls during the memorial.

Perhaps this wasn't necessarily a culture change, but rather goes to show how callous law firm partners can generally be. I do remember hearing a number of associates being shocked at how poorly the firm handled it though - the old "post your job opening before your obituary" coming true.

It stuns me that people capable of running an elite group could be this obtuse from a management/morale perspective. Good lord.

[Anonymous User]

Perhaps unknown but does anyone have guesses into why Portilla ended up at DPW? The Cravath hires into the DC office were all government revolving door, so I don't think that's necessarily indicative of a shift in approach.

Also think that Katie Sudol going from STB -> KKR seems like a major win in their continued battle with Kirkland over the PE market. I am curious how the spread between the two looks now that rates are up and work has slowed.

All my friends at DPW genuinely enjoy working there, so I genuinely buy that they've preserve their culture despite shifting to a pretty lateral-friendly model. Which, like, surprising. Would have thought that the shift to modified lock step + dramatic increase in PPP + increased laterals would have led to a more EWYK/cutthroat culture.

S&C somehow flys a bit under the radar on the lateral stuff. Doesn't seem like they really bleed laterals (outside of Krishna) and it doesn't seem like they are seeking laterals from other firms-the major partner hires seem to be government revolving door, including Blass/the Trump SG office.

Portilla was an associate at DPW before he left for Treasury, so maybe it's a bit of a homecoming for him? Agree that Sudol at KKR is huge for STB. Will be interesting to see who succeeds Finley when he steps down. And yes, DPW staying DPW (at least for now) is pretty impressive. Friends don't seem to complain about any change in culture, so kudos to firm management, I guess.

Must be, right? Just don't know why he dipped after bringing in several significant bank transactions w CSM

I imagine Blackstone will promote internally, no? Not like succession has gone unplanned. But yeah. Not DPW myself but seems like they did a decent job keeping it how it was. Not that you can change the culture in a 700 person firm all that meaningfully, all that quickly

1. On Portilla, think a combination of money and infrastructure: FIG is a big deal at DPW (along with S&C, Skadden, maybe a couple of others) and they’re on a bunch of the bit bank deals. Plus their comp is a bit more flexible than CSM’s even now.

2. There are people at BX who might think they’re succeeding Finley (e.g., Daniel Lee). I know Stadler at STB is very very close to Gray, though (did Equity Office Properties, which made both of their careers). But Stadler’s pushing 60. There are younger candidates at both STB and K&E who might fancy themselves (Cooper, Martelli pre-eminent on M&A deals and ten years younger than Stadler; a few funds and real estate folks, too). They could also take a leaf out of Apollo’s book and decide a regulator or litigator makes more sense - in which case it’s anyone guess.

3. S&C has long been known for matching/bettering lateral offers to key rainmakers - not certain, but I don’t think it’s been lockstep for some time. Suggests either Krishna wasn’t valued internally (doubtful) or something political really annoyed him. But otherwise I think it’s the one firm that didn’t lose to anyone to Kirkland when it was raiding all over the show. (Even DPW lost Hudson.)

[Anonymous User]

The poster above is right to point out this example as indicative of a culture. I’d like to know of firms with leaders who go out of their way gather people in appropriate ways during incidents like untimely deaths or severe accidents.

A few years ago an associate in Aiello’s group at Weil lost a parent in a freak accident. Mike sent an email so everyone knew about it. The group rallied around, a mass deputation went to the funeral, food was sent, accommodations were made. Not sure if that sort of thing has happened for everyone, but it was good to see.

[Anonymous User]

The poster above is right to point out this example as indicative of a culture. I’d like to know of firms with leaders who go out of their way gather people in appropriate ways during incidents like untimely deaths or severe accidents.

A few years ago an associate in Aiello’s group at Weil lost a parent in a freak accident. Mike sent an email so everyone knew about it. The group rallied around, a mass deputation went to the funeral, food was sent, accommodations were made. Not sure if that sort of thing has happened for everyone, but it was good to see.

A Quinn associate took leave to head out of town for his grandmother’s funeral. The partner on the matter continued to schedule calls that required that associate’s participation up until and during the middle of the funeral, in full knowledge that the associate would be required to take calls during a family funeral, with no shits given.

[Anonymous User]

Perhaps unknown but does anyone have guesses into why Portilla ended up at DPW? The Cravath hires into the DC office were all government revolving door, so I don't think that's necessarily indicative of a shift in approach.

Also think that Katie Sudol going from STB -> KKR seems like a major win in their continued battle with Kirkland over the PE market. I am curious how the spread between the two looks now that rates are up and work has slowed.

All my friends at DPW genuinely enjoy working there, so I genuinely buy that they've preserve their culture despite shifting to a pretty lateral-friendly model. Which, like, surprising. Would have thought that the shift to modified lock step + dramatic increase in PPP + increased laterals would have led to a more EWYK/cutthroat culture.

S&C somehow flys a bit under the radar on the lateral stuff. Doesn't seem like they really bleed laterals (outside of Krishna) and it doesn't seem like they are seeking laterals from other firms-the major partner hires seem to be government revolving door, including Blass/the Trump SG office.

Portilla was an associate at DPW before he left for Treasury, so maybe it's a bit of a homecoming for him? Agree that Sudol at KKR is huge for STB. Will be interesting to see who succeeds Finley when he steps down. And yes, DPW staying DPW (at least for now) is pretty impressive. Friends don't seem to complain about any change in culture, so kudos to firm management, I guess.

Must be, right? Just don't know why he dipped after bringing in several significant bank transactions w CSM

I imagine Blackstone will promote internally, no? Not like succession has gone unplanned. But yeah. Not DPW myself but seems like they did a decent job keeping it how it was. Not that you can change the culture in a 700 person firm all that meaningfully, all that quickly

1. On Portilla, think a combination of money and infrastructure: FIG is a big deal at DPW (along with S&C, Skadden, maybe a couple of others) and they’re on a bunch of the bit bank deals. Plus their comp is a bit more flexible than CSM’s even now.

2. There are people at BX who might think they’re succeeding Finley (e.g., Daniel Lee). I know Stadler at STB is very very close to Gray, though (did Equity Office Properties, which made both of their careers). But Stadler’s pushing 60. There are younger candidates at both STB and K&E who might fancy themselves (Cooper, Martelli pre-eminent on M&A deals and ten years younger than Stadler; a few funds and real estate folks, too). They could also take a leaf out of Apollo’s book and decide a regulator or litigator makes more sense - in which case it’s anyone guess.

3. S&C has long been known for matching/bettering lateral offers to key rainmakers - not certain, but I don’t think it’s been lockstep for some time. Suggests either Krishna wasn’t valued internally (doubtful) or something political really annoyed him. But otherwise I think it’s the one firm that didn’t lose to anyone to Kirkland when it was raiding all over the show. (Even DPW lost Hudson.)

I’m at S&C, and I believe the firm has historically been EWYK, from the days of Cromwell himself.

[Anonymous User]

Perhaps unknown but does anyone have guesses into why Portilla ended up at DPW? The Cravath hires into the DC office were all government revolving door, so I don't think that's necessarily indicative of a shift in approach.

Also think that Katie Sudol going from STB -> KKR seems like a major win in their continued battle with Kirkland over the PE market. I am curious how the spread between the two looks now that rates are up and work has slowed.

All my friends at DPW genuinely enjoy working there, so I genuinely buy that they've preserve their culture despite shifting to a pretty lateral-friendly model. Which, like, surprising. Would have thought that the shift to modified lock step + dramatic increase in PPP + increased laterals would have led to a more EWYK/cutthroat culture.

S&C somehow flys a bit under the radar on the lateral stuff. Doesn't seem like they really bleed laterals (outside of Krishna) and it doesn't seem like they are seeking laterals from other firms-the major partner hires seem to be government revolving door, including Blass/the Trump SG office.

Portilla was an associate at DPW before he left for Treasury, so maybe it's a bit of a homecoming for him? Agree that Sudol at KKR is huge for STB. Will be interesting to see who succeeds Finley when he steps down. And yes, DPW staying DPW (at least for now) is pretty impressive. Friends don't seem to complain about any change in culture, so kudos to firm management, I guess.

Must be, right? Just don't know why he dipped after bringing in several significant bank transactions w CSM

I imagine Blackstone will promote internally, no? Not like succession has gone unplanned. But yeah. Not DPW myself but seems like they did a decent job keeping it how it was. Not that you can change the culture in a 700 person firm all that meaningfully, all that quickly

1. On Portilla, think a combination of money and infrastructure: FIG is a big deal at DPW (along with S&C, Skadden, maybe a couple of others) and they’re on a bunch of the bit bank deals. Plus their comp is a bit more flexible than CSM’s even now.

2. There are people at BX who might think they’re succeeding Finley (e.g., Daniel Lee). I know Stadler at STB is very very close to Gray, though (did Equity Office Properties, which made both of their careers). But Stadler’s pushing 60. There are younger candidates at both STB and K&E who might fancy themselves (Cooper, Martelli pre-eminent on M&A deals and ten years younger than Stadler; a few funds and real estate folks, too). They could also take a leaf out of Apollo’s book and decide a regulator or litigator makes more sense - in which case it’s anyone guess.

3. S&C has long been known for matching/bettering lateral offers to key rainmakers - not certain, but I don’t think it’s been lockstep for some time. Suggests either Krishna wasn’t valued internally (doubtful) or something political really annoyed him. But otherwise I think it’s the one firm that didn’t lose to anyone to Kirkland when it was raiding all over the show. (Even DPW lost Hudson.)

I’m at S&C, and I believe the firm has historically been EWYK, from the days of Cromwell himself.

ew

[Anonymous User]

Perhaps unknown but does anyone have guesses into why Portilla ended up at DPW? The Cravath hires into the DC office were all government revolving door, so I don't think that's necessarily indicative of a shift in approach.

Also think that Katie Sudol going from STB -> KKR seems like a major win in their continued battle with Kirkland over the PE market. I am curious how the spread between the two looks now that rates are up and work has slowed.

All my friends at DPW genuinely enjoy working there, so I genuinely buy that they've preserve their culture despite shifting to a pretty lateral-friendly model. Which, like, surprising. Would have thought that the shift to modified lock step + dramatic increase in PPP + increased laterals would have led to a more EWYK/cutthroat culture.

S&C somehow flys a bit under the radar on the lateral stuff. Doesn't seem like they really bleed laterals (outside of Krishna) and it doesn't seem like they are seeking laterals from other firms-the major partner hires seem to be government revolving door, including Blass/the Trump SG office.

Portilla was an associate at DPW before he left for Treasury, so maybe it's a bit of a homecoming for him? Agree that Sudol at KKR is huge for STB. Will be interesting to see who succeeds Finley when he steps down. And yes, DPW staying DPW (at least for now) is pretty impressive. Friends don't seem to complain about any change in culture, so kudos to firm management, I guess.

Must be, right? Just don't know why he dipped after bringing in several significant bank transactions w CSM

I imagine Blackstone will promote internally, no? Not like succession has gone unplanned. But yeah. Not DPW myself but seems like they did a decent job keeping it how it was. Not that you can change the culture in a 700 person firm all that meaningfully, all that quickly

1. On Portilla, think a combination of money and infrastructure: FIG is a big deal at DPW (along with S&C, Skadden, maybe a couple of others) and they’re on a bunch of the bit bank deals. Plus their comp is a bit more flexible than CSM’s even now.

2. There are people at BX who might think they’re succeeding Finley (e.g., Daniel Lee). I know Stadler at STB is very very close to Gray, though (did Equity Office Properties, which made both of their careers). But Stadler’s pushing 60. There are younger candidates at both STB and K&E who might fancy themselves (Cooper, Martelli pre-eminent on M&A deals and ten years younger than Stadler; a few funds and real estate folks, too). They could also take a leaf out of Apollo’s book and decide a regulator or litigator makes more sense - in which case it’s anyone guess.

3. S&C has long been known for matching/bettering lateral offers to key rainmakers - not certain, but I don’t think it’s been lockstep for some time. Suggests either Krishna wasn’t valued internally (doubtful) or something political really annoyed him. But otherwise I think it’s the one firm that didn’t lose to anyone to Kirkland when it was raiding all over the show. (Even DPW lost Hudson.)

I’m at S&C, and I believe the firm has historically been EWYK, from the days of Cromwell himself.

Interesting I had no idea. I thought they were modified lockstep, with a higher spread.

[Anonymous User]

S&C is modified lockstep. It is definitely not EWYK.