Two partners are leaving Paul Weiss, the latest blow to the prominent New York law firm that reached a widely criticized deal with President Trump last year, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The partners — Kannon Shanmugam and Masha Hansford — are departing to start a practice focusing on Supreme Court and other appellate litigation at the rival firm Davis Polk.
Scott Barshay, who took over as Paul Weiss’s chairman in February, announced their departures at a partnership meeting at the firm’s offices in New York on Thursday, the people said.
In a statement to The New York Times, a spokeswoman for Paul Weiss said, “We thank Kannon and Masha for their contributions and wish them well in their future endeavors.”
Mr. Shanmugam has been one of the most prominent litigators at Paul Weiss. He regularly argued cases before the Supreme Court and chaired the firm’s Supreme Court and appellate practice.
Ms. Hansford is leaving Paul Weiss after less than a year as a partner. She had previously been an associate at the firm and then worked in the Justice Department’s solicitor general’s office, where she argued cases before the Supreme Court. She returned as a partner at Paul Weiss last fall.
The exits are the latest turmoil at Paul Weiss, which was long known within the legal community as a litigation powerhouse — a reputation that was burnished during Mr. Trump’s first term when the firm took on prominent pro bono cases challenging the administration’s policies.
Last March, under the leadership of Brad Karp, then the chairman of the firm, Paul Weiss reached a deal with Mr. Trump to avoid an executive order that could have prevented it from representing clients before the federal government.
The deal was criticized in the legal community as a capitulation to Mr. Trump that could make lawyers wary of challenging the administration in court.
It also exposed tensions between some of the firm’s litigators and its corporate lawyers who often represent giant companies in mergers and acquisitions.
Mr. Karp resigned as chairman in February, after a series of emails became public revealing details about his dealings with Jeffrey Epstein, the registered sex offender.
In the months following the firm’s deal with the Trump administration, several well-known litigation partners departed, including Karen Dunn, a high-profile lawyer, who oversaw debate preparation for former Vice President Kamala Harris and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during their presidential campaigns.
Mr. Shanmugam, a Republican, has a conservative legal background, having clerked for the U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and the appeals court judge Judge J. Michael Luttig.
Davis Polk, where Mr. Shanmugam and Ms. Hansford are heading, never faced one of the numerous executive orders that Mr. Trump issued against major law firms last year.
