Brad Karp has been Chairman of Paul, Weiss since 2008. One of the country’s leading litigators and corporate advisers, Brad has successfully guided numerous Fortune 100 companies, global financial institutions and other clients through “bet the company” litigations, regulatory matters, internal investigations, and corporate crises. He previously led the firm’s Litigation Department. Brad has spent his entire career at Paul, Weiss, beginning as a summer associate.
Brad is described by Chambers as “the best strategic adviser in the business,” “the best litigator in the country,” and “someone who every CEO in America should have on speed dial.” The New York Times and Bloomberg have called Brad “the most connected lawyer in the country,” and Best Lawyers has described him as “the most talented, responsive, client-sensitive, creative, effective lawyer of his generation.” Brad’s success in multibillion-dollar litigations, investigations, enforcement matters and arbitrations is unrivaled. He has led dozens of internal investigations and represented numerous board special committees.
Industry Awards and Recognitions
Brad has earned dozens of industry awards and recognitions for his successful client representations and legal achievements as well as for his role as a leader in the legal profession, the business community and the public interest sphere, and has been selected multiple times as the “Lawyer of the Year” and the “Litigator of the Year.” He is active in the community, serving on numerous public interest, educational, cultural and charitable boards and has frequently been recognized for his pro bono accomplishments and charitable service.
Chambers describes Brad as “the best strategic adviser in the business”; “the best litigator in the country”; “someone who every CEO in America should have on speed dial”; “someone you go to when you have a big problem”; “the titan of the defense bar”; “worth his weight in gold”; “a great oral advocate”; “a great leader who has boundless energy and is client-conscious and service-orientated”; “a phenomenal thinker”; “brilliant”; “extraordinary”; “an utterly fantastic lawyer”; “without peer”; “a renowned litigator”; “the absolute best”; “the consummate client service lawyer”; and “the most responsive lawyer in America.” Benchmark Litigation describes Brad as having “unbelievably great judgment”; “superior presence in the courtroom and the boardroom”; and as “the guy who makes every other litigator in this town consider just giving up and becoming a bus driver.” Best Lawyers describes Brad as “the most talented, responsive, client-sensitive, creative, effective lawyer of his generation in the country, no question.”
Brad has received dozens of industry awards and recognitions. Brad has been selected as the “Attorney of the Year” by the New York Law Journal and by Lawdragon, the “Litigator of the Year” by The American Lawyer and by Benchmark Litigation/Euromoney, and one of the most innovative lawyers in the United States by the Financial Times. Brad received the “Special Achievement Award” from the Financial Times in recognition of his legal achievements and his leadership of Paul, Weiss. Brad has repeatedly been named by the National Association of Corporate Directors as one of the most influential people in the boardroom and by Crain’s and City & State as one of New York’s most influential leaders. The New York Law Journal awarded Brad its first-ever Impact Award, in recognition of Brad’s “significant and lasting impact on the legal community in New York.” Brad received the William Nelson Cromwell Award from the New York County Lawyers Association in recognition of his “unselfish service to the profession and the community.” He also recently received Harvard Law School’s highest honor, the Harvard Law School Association Award, in recognition of his leadership in the legal profession, significant volunteer service and commitment to Harvard Law School.
Chambers has designated Brad as a “Star” in multiple practice areas, including Commercial Litigation, Securities Litigation and Crisis Management. Brad has been selected multiple times as “Securities Lawyer of the Year” and “Banking and Finance Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers and “Banking MVP of the Year,” “Securities MVP of the Year,” and “Sports MVP of the Year” by Law360. Brad has been selected as a “Legend in the Law” by Lawdragon, and was inducted into the “Hall of Fame” by Benchmark Litigation and by The Legal 500 in five separate categories (Trial Lawyers, General Commercial Litigation, Financial Services Litigation, Securities Litigation, and Sports Law). Brad has been selected as a “Trailblazer” and as a “Distinguished Leader” by the New York Law Journal, and as an “Equality Trailblazer” and a “Litigation Trailblazer” by the National Law Journal. Brad was selected by Business Today as one of the most influential securities lawyers in the United States. Brad’s successful representation of financial institutions and other companies in “bet the company” matters was featured in an American Lawyer cover story, “The Lifesavers,” in which Paul, Weiss was selected as the country’s best litigation firm. Earlier in his career, Brad was profiled in The American Lawyer as one of the 45 leading lawyers in the United States under the age of 45.
Writing/Speaking
Brad speaks and writes frequently on business litigation, securities litigation, corporate governance, and crisis management. Brad has spoken at more than 700 conferences and has lectured at Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, Columbia Law School, NYU Law School, Harvard Business School, Harvard Kennedy School, Yale School of Management and The Federal Judicial Center. Brad has written more than 700 articles on business litigation and corporate governance issues. For the past 40 years, Brad has written a monthly column for the New York Law Journal, “Second Circuit Review,” which analyzes developments in the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Brad is a frequent contributor to the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation.
Brad frequently speaks and writes about pressing issues of social justice and the rule of law. In 2023, Brad co-chaired a New York State Bar Association Task Force on Advancing Diversity, which released a 90-page report detailing how law schools, law firms, corporations and courts can maintain their diversity in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision barring race-conscious university admissions policies. In 2022, Brad wrote an op-ed urging the FTC to address the gun industry’s disinformation campaign, “The Gun Industry’s Deadly Lie” (June 2022, Fortune). In 2021, Brad authored an op-ed urging the legal industry to challenge Georgia’s voter suppression legislation, “It’s Time for Legal Industry to Fight Voter Suppression Efforts” (April 2021, The American Lawyer). In 2020, Brad authored three op-eds concerning the nation’s response to the coronavirus pandemic: “We Need Obama, Bush and Clinton to Beat the Coronavirus” (March 2020, The American Lawyer); “The Legal Community Must Protect Workers and Small Businesses From Coronavirus Fallout” (March 2020, The American Lawyer); and “Protecting the Rule of Law in Times of Coronavirus” (April 2020, Bloomberg International). In 2018, Brad authored two op-eds in The New York Times, “Stop Shielding Gun Makers” (March 2018), advocating changes to gun manufacturer liability laws, and “An Army of Lawyers for Migrants” (June 2018), urging the private bar to address the unlawful treatment of immigrants and to seek the reunification of separated families. Also in 2018, Brad authored an op-ed in the New York Law Journal, “Democracy Itself Is on the Ballot,” addressing voter suppression and disenfranchisement.
Boards and Other Professional Affiliations
Brad is active in the community, serving on more than 50 public interest, educational, cultural and charitable boards. Brad is the chairman of the Legal Action Center and a director/trustee of Mount Sinai Hospital (Executive Committee), New York-Presbyterian Hospital, the Partnership for New York City (Executive Committee), Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (Executive Committee), the Harvard Law School Leadership Council, the Lincoln Center Business Advisory Council, the New York City Bar Association (Vice President), the American Constitution Society, the JL Greene Foundation, Target ALS, the Paley Center for Media, Junior Achievement Worldwide, the Harvard Law School Center on the Legal Profession, the Union College Board of Trustees (Executive Committee, Chair, Audit and Risk Committee), the UJA Lawyers Committee (Chair), Practicing Attorneys for Law Students Program, the Citizens’ Committee for Children (Chair, Advisory Committee), the Leadership Council of the Legal Services Corporation, the Harvard Law School Visiting Committee (Chair), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Litigation Center, the Riverdale Country Day School, the Jewish Museum, the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, NYC Mayor’s Fund Board of Advisors, American Friends of Hebrew University, the New York Bar Foundation, the Program Advisory Board of the Brennan Center for Justice, the Mark Messier Foundation, the Garden of Dreams Foundation, the Harvard Law School Alumni Advisory Board, the Deborah L. Rhode Center on the Legal Profession, the Law Firm Antiracism Alliance (Advisory Board), the Court Square Law Project, the Security Advisory Council for the World Jewish Congress, the (Second Circuit) RISE Partnership (Co-Chair), the World Law Foundation, the Intapp CEO Advisory Board, the Best Lawyers Advisory Board, the Burton Awards (Law Firm Leadership Committee), the Economic Club of New York, the Federal Bar Council Second Circuit Inn of Court, the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, the Union College President’s Council, the United States Supreme Court Historical Society, and the NYU Program on Corporate Compliance and Enforcement.
Brad also is a founding member of the PwC Leaders Council examining financial services industry regulatory reform, the Co-Chair of the New York State Bar Association Task Force on Advancing Diversity, and a member of the New York City Bar Association Task Force on New Lawyers in a Changing Profession. For the past nine years, Brad has chaired the Harvard Law School Annual Fund. In the wake of the pandemic, Brad was appointed by the Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals to the Commission to Reimagine the Future of New York’s Courts and chairs its Online Courts Committee. Brad currently serves as a director of the Vice President (Kamala Harris) Residence Foundation, and as Co-Chair of the New York Attorney General’s Reproductive Choice Task Force. Brad is also a director of the Continental Grain Company (Chair, Audit and Risk Committee).
Community Awards and Recognitions
Brad has received dozens of recognitions for his legal achievements, pro bono accomplishments and charitable service, including the HLSA Award by the Harvard Law School Association, the Servant of Justice Award by the Legal Aid Society, the Judge Learned Hand Award by AJC, the Human Relations Award by the Anti-Defamation League, the Arthur Liman Public Interest Award by the Legal Action Center, the Pro Bono Award by the Pro Bono Partnership, the Corporate Honoree Award by The Jewish Museum, the Torch of Learning Award by American Friends of Hebrew University, the Corporate Protector Award by the Citizens’ Committee for Children, the Extraordinary New Yorker Award by the JBFCS, the Joseph Proskauer Award by UJA, the Legal Advocate Award by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, the Man of Distinction Award by Legal Momentum, the Impact Award by the New York Law Journal, the Medal of Honor by the World Jurist Association, the Pro Bono Partner Award by the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, the Judge Simon Rifkind Award by The Jewish Theological Seminary, the William Nelson Cromwell Award by the New York County Lawyers Association, the Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Corporate Advocacy & Vision by the Citizens’ Committee for Children, the Burton Award for Law Firm Leadership by The Burton Foundation and the Library of Congress, the NAC Promise Award by New Alternatives for Children, the Champion of the Rule of Law Award by The World Law Congress, the Humanitarian Award by the United Nations, and the John J. McCloy Award by the Fund for Modern Courts.
