Wall Street Top Cop Williams Joins Paul Weiss Where Career Began

Former Manhattan US Attorney Damian Williams has returned to Paul Weiss a month after leaving the post where he prosecuted felons including FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

Williams, a past associate at Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison, has rejoined as a partner, the firm announced Friday. “We are thrilled to welcome Damian back,” said Paul Weiss chairman Brad Karp in a statement.

With its long-standing ties to the Democratic Party, Paul Weiss emerged as a power center during the Biden administration. Williams joins a litigation department that already includes former Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former US Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson.

Williams as US attorney for the Southern District of New York pressed actions against former New Jersey Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, New York City Mayor Eric Adams and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Along with Bankman-Fried, he prosecuted Archegos Capital Management founder Bill Hwang.

Williams also created a civil rights unit in the SDNY’s criminal division and sought a court-appointed receiver for Rikers Island and other New York City jails.

He announced in November he would step down. President-elect Donald Trump has said he will nominate former Securities and Exchange Commission Chair and Sullivan & Cromwell of counsel Jay Clayton as the next Manhattan US attorney.

Williams clerked for Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens and then-Judge Merrick Garland of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He first joined Paul Weiss in 2009 before decamping to join the Southern District in 2012. Nine years later, he became the first black prosecutor to lead the SDNY.

“This is a real full-circle moment for me,” Williams said in a statement. “It’s an honor to rejoin the firm where my professional journey began.”

Paul Weiss in November added Elizabeth Stotland Weiswasser from Weil Gotshal & Manges to lead the litigation department along with Ted Wells, Karen Dunn, Jessica Carey, and Kannon Shanmugam.