The following is an excerpt from Practice Perspectives: Vault's Guide to Legal Practice Areas.
Chairman of Paul, Weiss since 2008, Brad S. Karp is one of the country’s leading litigators and corporate advisers. Brad has successfully guided numerous Fortune 100 companies, financial institutions, sports leagues, and others through “bet the company” litigations, regulatory matters, internal investigations, and crises. He has received dozens of industry recognitions for his legal achievements and for his leadership within the legal profession. Brad is active in the community, serving on numerous public interest, educational, cultural, and charitable boards. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School and has spent his entire professional career at Paul, Weiss.
Describe your practice area and what it entails.
I defend clients in “bet the company” litigations, regulatory/enforcement matters, and internal investigations. My practice essentially involves helping my clients avoid, manage, and mitigate existential risk across industries and subject matters. I work with CEOs, boards, and general counsel to address multifaceted crises involving potentially ruinous liability, an adverse court decision, an explosive news story, a crippling enforcement action, or a dangerous congressional investigation. My major focus is helping my clients manage the risk of existential litigation or enforcement actions and serving as a consiglieri to executive management. I also am very active in the community and, as chair of the firm, I help guide the firm’s strategy and lead the firm’s response to the mounting number of social justice and racial justice crises.
What types of clients do you represent?
I represent global banks like Citigroup, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, and others; sports leagues like the National Football League, Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, and others; leading alternative asset managers like Apollo, Blackstone, KKR, and others; and numerous Fortune 50 companies.
What types of cases/deals do you work on?
I handle all of the NFL’s most threatening, high-profile matters, including the massive, multidistrict concussion litigation against the NFL brought on behalf of more than 5,000 retired players alleging they suffered cognitive impairment due to their participation in professional football. I recently successfully represented General Electric in a multibillion-dollar trade secrets case against Siemens; Morgan Stanley in the dismissal of a massive class action alleging manipulation in the multitrillion-dollar Treasury securities markets; the independent directors of CBS in a lawsuit related to its merger with Viacom; Credit Suisse in an independent review of its relationship with the Archegos Capital, which collapsed, resulting in the bank losing billions of dollars; Citigroup in more than a dozen class action litigations and regulatory investigations; Blackstone in a multibillion-dollar claim that it misled state pension investors; and other clients in “bet the company” matters. I am also very active on pro bono matters involving reproductive choice, gun control, protecting voter integrity, and immigrant rights.
How did you choose this practice area?
My parents were both lawyers, and I knew early on that I wanted to be a litigator. I joined Paul, Weiss as a summer associate because the litigation department was renowned as a place where you could work with the world’s greatest lawyers on the biggest, most important cases, while also engaging in important, high-impact pro bono litigation. Early on, I had the privilege to learn from two giants in the litigation bar, Judge Simon Rifkind and Arthur Liman, both consummate trial lawyers.
What training, classes, experience, or skills development would you recommend to someone who wishes to enter your practice area?
People join our litigation practice from all academic backgrounds, but a track record of academic excellence is a baseline for future success. So much of what you learn in litigation is “on the job” training, so I tell law students to seek out a firm like Paul, Weiss that offers the best training, professional skills development, and the chance to work with the world’s best, most talented trial lawyers.
What is the most challenging aspect of practicing in this area?
The exponential growth in digital data and communications produced in the average business litigation can be challenging. Our litigators need to keep abreast of the onslaught because the tiniest detail could prove outcome determinative. We have invested heavily in legal technology that can both improve outcomes for our clients and help them retrieve the knowledge they need faster and more efficiently, earning a recognition in December from the Financial Times for our innovations. Relatedly, our tech clients face unprecedented legal threats in areas where commercial, antitrust, and class action law are all implicated; that work has accelerated since we expanded into Northern California in 2021.
What do you like best about your practice area?
I treat my clients’ problems as my own, and so nothing is more gratifying than developing creative solutions to seemingly intractable problems, resolving existential threats facing my clients, and enabling them to focus on their business and strategic goals. As a result, so many of my clients have become close friends over the years.
What are some typical tasks that a junior lawyer would perform in this practice area?
Associates, even in their first year, play an important role in and make major contributions to litigation matters. There are myriad opportunities to get involved in important aspects of cases, from taking and defending depositions, to helping prepare pleadings and motions, to organizing documents for trial. We give our junior lawyers courtroom experience early on and encourage them to take on pro bono cases, where they can get real-world experience leading matters, while making a tangible difference in their clients’ lives and helping to improve society.