Mamdani Taps Ex-Paul Weiss Pro Bono Chief as NYC Law Leader (1)

Paul Weiss’ ex-pro bono chief Steve Banks, who left after the firm’s deal with President Donald Trump, will lead the New York City Law Department, Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said, putting a longtime liberal advocate in the city government’s top legal position.

Mamdani announced on Tuesday that Banks is his pick for the role, called corporation counsel, touting Banks’ background litigating on behalf of homeless people and low-income tenants. “His reputation as a champion for those otherwise forgotten is recognized across the city,” the mayor-elect said.

The position requires confirmation by the New York City Council.

Corporation counsel oversee the roughly 850 attorneys who defend the city from lawsuits or sue on its behalf. He would succeed Muriel Goode-Trufant, tapped last year by Mayor Eric Adams.

Banks joined Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison in 2022 after serving for nearly eight years as commissioner of the New York City Department of Social Services under New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. Before that, Banks worked for three decades at the Legal Aid Society, the country’s largest provider of indigent legal services, becoming attorney-in-chief of the nonprofit.

Banks parted ways with Paul Weiss in April, weeks after the New York firm struck an agreement with Trump, saying it would dedicate $40 million in pro bono legal services to support the administration’s goals. The agreement got Paul Weiss out from under a punitive executive order.

Since leaving Paul Weiss, Banks has been a private practitioner, according to his LinkedIn, which describes him as a “public interest social justice attorney.”

In remarks Tuesday afternoon, Banks joked that when he worked as a public defender and then in city government, his parents “wondered what I was actually doing with my law degree.” He vowed to use the corporation counsel position to “support the mayor-elect’s vision and agenda for transformative change.”

Banks was an early Mamdani supporter, telling Bloomberg Law in June that the Democratic insurgent would be “a breath of fresh air for access to justice.”

His past work includes representing the Coalition for the Homeless with the Legal Aid Society in a 2024 settlement that preserved New York City’s “Right to Shelter” law after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott bused thousands of migrants to the city, and the Adams’ administration moved to suspend aspects of the guarantee. The city struck an agreement with Legal Aid, allowing limited stays in city shelters for migrants.