Paul Weiss’ Shanmugam Exit Shows Rivals Pouncing for DC Talent

Supreme Court lawyer Kannon Shanmugam’s move to Davis Polk & Wardwell spotlights how Big Law firms are building appellate practices as contentious battles under President Donald Trump land at the high court.

News of Shanmugam’s move from Paul Weiss came two days after Jeffrey Wall, the former acting US solicitor general, and a team of fellow lawyers from Sullivan & Cromwell joined Gibson Dunn. Cooley LLP, primarily known as a Silicon Valley dealmaker, gained credibility as an appellate advocate when former Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar rejoined the firm last year.

“Being associated with matters before the Supreme Court carries substantial reputational value,” said Dan Binstock, a DC-based recruiter. “It signals the idea that a firm operates at the highest level, and this perception can benefit other practice areas.”

Big Law firms are battling for top appellate talent in DC as the high court and appeals panels play a key role in testing Trump administration initiatives. The justices sided with the president on nationwide injunctions, federal workforce reductions, and immigration-related cases in his first year back in the White House, while striking down Trump’s tariffs in a February ruling.

“Appellate practices have changed because of the executive orders coming from the administration,” said Howard Rosenberg, head of talent intelligence and acquisitions at growth advisory firm Baretz+Brunelle. “Some firms are going to come out with world-class appellate benches they didn’t have before. Other people are going to realize they lost some partners and can’t explain why.”

Shanmugam is set to argue his 40th case before the high court on Tuesday, representing Cisco Systems, Inc. in a suit related to the tech company’s sale of surveillance and security tools to the Chinese government. The former clerk for Justice Antonin Scalia and veteran of the US Solicitor General’s office will be joined by Paul Weiss appellate partner Masha Hansford in the jump to Davis Polk.

The move is another blow for Paul Weiss, and marks the second time Shanmugam has been tasked with building a destination appellate practice at a pivotal moment in the appellate bar. Paul Weiss lured him from Williams & Connolly in 2019, a rare lateral move from the DC litigation boutique that came as noted appeals lawyer Lisa Blatt returned to the firm.

Strategic Value

Davis Polk is the latest elite Manhattan law firm to launch a Supreme Court practice. Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom in 2020 tapped Jones Day litigator Shay Dvoretzky to start a high court practice in the nation’s capital.

Supreme Court practices aren’t usually money-makers, especially compared to the lucrative corporate transactions work driving revenue at Davis Polk, Skadden, and other firms. But the practices can bring prestige and credibility that’s hard to measure in financial terms.

“Some firms discount their rates quite a bit in order to get these cases because of the branding and the benefits of being on the front page,” Binstock said. “It’s almost like an extension of marketing. The long-term strategic value can far exceed the economics of any single case,” he said.

Shanmugam joins a Davis Polk DC office led by Jarrett Arp, a veteran antitrust litigator who in 2020 joined the firm in what was then a rare lateral addition. The firm has since built out its corporate roster in DC and last year brought back Neil MacBride, following a stint as Treasury Department general counsel, as co-chair of its white collar defense and investigations practice.

As for Paul Weiss, it will have one partner left in its SCOTUS practice—William Marks—for which the firm has not yet announced a new leader. The firm saw a string of departures from its litigation group following its deal with the Trump administration to scrap a punitive executive order and its overall shift to focus on corporate transactions. Shanmugam is the best-known lawyer to leave Paul Weiss since Brad Karp, the firm’s longtime leader, resigned from the post in February over revelations about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

Karen Dunn, a litigation group co-chair, left Paul Weiss with partners Bill Isaacson and Jeannie Rhee to start a boutique firm. Damian Williams, the ex-US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, left for Jenner & Block, and Jeh Johnson, the former Homeland Security Secretary, retired after 40 years.

The firm has more than 100 lawyers in its DC office, which is led by John Carlin, who previously was the Justice Department’s highest-ranking national security lawyer, and Scott Sher, global co-head of its antitrust group. It also recently welcomed Adam Hoeflich from Bartlit Beck and former SEC official Antonia Apps.