Career Retrospective: Paul, Weiss LLP
I like to call the Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO) Law program my gateway into BigLaw. Before studying for the LSAT and applying to law school, I had no concrete understanding of what a corporate law firm was outside of TV shows, or even what the term “corporate law” meant. I spent the summer before my 1L year in the SEO program, preparing for law school and working as a summer associate at a law firm in D.C. (a firm I returned to for my 1L summer). After a few twists and turns, I worked my 2L summer in both the D.C. and New York offices of Paul, Weiss LLP, and got an offer to return to the D.C. office after law school to start my career as a Litigation Associate. I figured my path was set.
In the Fall semester of my 3L year, I interned at the Arlington Immigration Court with the encouragement of one of my favorite professors—former immigration judge Paul Schmidt (who also runs an integral immigration court blog!). During the internship, I learned about the DOJ Honors Program, wherein I could work as a law clerk for immigration judges. I had no idea there was a world beyond traditional clerkships—much less one in my unique area of interest. Not applying felt foolhardy, and so I did. When I was accepted, I faced a dilemma: do I stick to my BigLaw path, or do I chase my passion?
I am not naturally assertive, but I pushed myself to negotiate with the law firm the deferral of my offer for two years. As planned, I joined the firm at the end of my clerkship term in 2018. I entered the firm as a third-year, midlevel associate and occupied the curious, nerve-wracking space between acclimating to a firm as a full-time employee and taking on managerial responsibilities immediately.
As a Litigation Associate, I specialized in internal investigations and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) matters, including handling voluntary document requests and full investigations. My teams represented clients in matters before the Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice, and I pitched in on investigations involving anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism sanctions via the Office of Foreign Assets Control. The fact-finding and counseling aspects of investigations were fascinating: combing through documents to figure out a timeline and a narrative of what happened, why it happened, and figuring out how your client can best respond to federal agencies tasked with holding companies accountable. In just two years, I managed large-scale document productions to agencies, including the creation and production of privilege logs, and conducted witness interviews across time zones. I crafted document review protocols alongside senior staff attorneys and e-Discovery teams, and I supervised and verified first-level document reviews, including corrective coding of documents. I created and maintained investigation chronologies, task lists, key players and entity charts, and other materials that keep investigative matters organized and afloat. At the time, I did not fully appreciate just how much responsibility I had as a midlevel attorney. But looking back, I am impressed at how quickly I immersed myself in topics and processes that were entirely foreign and intimidating to me, and I am proud of the ways I strove to be a manager and teammate worth working for and working with. I received a masterclass in project management as a midlevel associate, where I was learning to manage both up and down as a constant balancing act.
Given that my passion still in the immigration space, I was purposeful in maintaining an active immigration pro bono practice, successfully representing asylum seekers before USCIS and in appeals to the Board of Immigration Appeals. As the pandemic hit, I made sure to serve on the team working with ACLU chapters in different states seeking the release of immigration detainees from detention for public health reasons.
I was also at Paul, Weiss during the so-called “racial reckoning” in June 2020 following the murder of George Floyd. I had always been involved in DEI activities and affinity groups since my time as a summer associate, but that flashpoint felt like an opportunity to be seized with both hands. I, along with other like-minded Black associates, organized open letters to firm leadership about anti-racism and combatting anti-Blackness, along with the trials of being Black in BigLaw in moments like that one. We formulated solutions for the firm, including recruitment and retention strategies, new internal support programs, pro bono ventures, and potential partnerships. I personally designed and pitched a movement lawyering-centered, three-phrase Responsive Racial Justice Lawyering proposal that included rapid response efforts for protesters, investing in novel partnerships with movement lawyering legal service providers, and a pledge to create a first-of-its-kind fellowship program. I am proud to say that I used all of my lived experiences, my student organizing history, my justice orientation, and my personal education to advocate fiercely for radical solutions with firm leadership—even if those solutions weren’t agreed on or implemented in the end. I lived authentically and brought far more of myself to the BigLaw table during that summer than I ever had before.
Let me not skip over an important aspect of this time: the compensation. In the years I worked in BigLaw and for the first time in my entire life, I felt a level of financial stability that allowed me to stop worrying about emergencies. I could support myself, save, invest, treat my friends, and support my family members all at once. I could finally set longer-term financial goals and feel the satisfaction of achieving them much sooner than expected. It may be gauche to disclose that, but I feel it’s an important part of my journey to, and eventually away from, BigLaw.
In the end, my time in BigLaw gave me more and different lessons than I expected. It gave me a crucible-like environment of relentless pressure that helped me to “grow up” as an attorney. It gave me financial stability. It gave me an appreciation for what working with resources and support can look like; how having both allows you to focus on the work itself instead of wondering how it will possibly get done. It crystallized my orientation to the work of lawyering generally, and lawyering in and around movement spaces specifically. I left Paul, Weiss with a trove of new skills, trusted connections, and with a clear vision of where I wanted to be next.
