Damian Williams Trades Biglaw Bucks for Big Moves

Ben Thomson, LawFuel contributing editor

Damian Williams isn’t just another high-powered litigator making a lateral leap, he’s making waves, raising eyebrows, and possibly laying the groundwork for a pivot into politics. If you’ve been tracking the latest episodes in the “Trump v. Biglaw” saga, you’ll know this isn’t your average career hop. Williams, the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, is stepping out of the white-shoe fortress of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP just five months after arriving—and into the arms of Jenner & Block, where he’ll co-chair the litigation department out of their New York office.

We know that partners move firms all the time. Lateral hires are the espresso shots of Biglaw: frequent, highly caffeinated, and sometimes hard to track. And Paul Weiss have already suffered some prestige partner departures, such as their pro bono chief and Karen Dunn and her associates.

But this one’s different. Williams’s exit comes on the heels of Paul Weiss’s now-notorious legal tango with the Trump administration, in which it settled rather than fight an executive order that its chairman Brad Karp once called an “existential threat.” Translation: they blinked.

Meanwhile, Jenner & Block didn’t just hold their ground—they lawyered up, took the EO to court, won a permanent injunction, and emerged with both bragging rights and the moral high ground.

(They even nabbed “Law Firm of the Week” alongside their co-counsel at Cooley.) In the battle for Biglaw’s soul, Jenner played Captain America to Paul Weiss’s—well, let’s say Hawkeye with a migraine.

And here comes Williams, who knows a thing or two about being in the public eye. The first Black U.S. Attorney for SDNY, he’s no stranger to headline-making prosecutions—from Wall Street rogues to political corruption cases.

When asked why he chose Jenner, he served up a statement with more coded shade than a Real Housewives reunion: “Jenner & Block fearlessly advocates for its clients… I’ve seen firsthand how this firm expertly tackles the toughest cases and lives its values.”

For subtext let’s just say he didn’t exactly call Paul Weiss “Profiles in Courage.”

And don’t ignore the elephant-sized stack of cash in the corner. By moving from Paul Weiss (PPEP: ~$7.5 million) to Jenner (PPEP: ~$2.8 million), Williams is kissing goodbye to several million dollars a year. That’s not just a pay cut – it’s a financial faceplant.

Sometimes it’s about the narrative arc, not the paycheck.

And if (read: when) Williams decides to pursue elected office—as many suspect he might, especially given that his sleek personal website looked suspiciously like a campaign teaser—then this move plays beautifully.

Picture it: “He stood up for values. He walked away from Biglaw’s compromise. He chose principle over profit.” It’s practically West Wing-ready.

As Ken White and Josh Barro quipped on Serious Trouble, there’s a marketing upside for every firm breakup. Some of Paul Weiss’s other recent departures—including those who launched the litigation boutique Dunn Isaacson Rhee—may have been spurred by disillusionment. But the more likely motivator? A clean break and a chance to rebrand as the legal world’s “true believers.”

So while Damian Williams didn’t go full “Succession” and torch his old firm on the way out, the message is unmistakable: some lawyers chase the money. Others chase the moment.

Williams appears to be chasing legacy.

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