Brad S. Karp

Chair of the firm since 2008, Brad Karp is one of the country’s leading litigators and corporate advisers. Brad has extensive experience successfully defending financial institutions and other companies in “bet the company” litigations and regulatory matters. Prior to being named chair of Paul, Weiss, Brad chaired the firm’s Litigation Department.

Experience

Significant representations include:

• Apollo in various matters;
• Bank of America in several matters, including the litigations and regulatory matters arising out of Bank of America's 2008 merger with Merrill Lynch;
• Bank of New York Mellon in several matters, including the litigations and regulatory matters arising out of the bank's foreign exchange standing instruction orders;
• Bloomberg in various matters;
• Citigroup  in multiple matters, including:
  • its Second Circuit victory allowing corporations to enter into federal regulatory consent judgments without admitting wrongdoing;
  • its arbitral victory defeating multi-billion-dollar claims brought by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), arising out of its December 2007 $7.5 billion investment in Citigroup;
  • its Southern District of New York jury trial victory defeating multi-billion-dollar claims by London-based private equity firm Terra Firma, which claimed it was defrauded in connection with its 2007 purchase of EMI;
  • its New Jersey state court jury trial victory defeating a multi-billion-dollar lawsuit brought by Parmalat;
  • its arbitral victory defeating a billion-dollar claim by a WorldCom investor who claimed he was defrauded by Citigroup and Jack Grubman, as a result of allegedly fraudulent research;
  • its subprime, credit crisis and mortgage-related litigations and regulatory matters;
  • its auction rate securities litigations and regulatory matters;
  • its Lehman-related litigations;
  • its failed investment litigations and regulatory matters;
  • its Enron-related litigations and regulatory matters;
  • its research analyst litigations; and
  • a nationwide employment discrimination class action;
• Deloitte & Touche LLP in several matters, including securing the dismissal of a federal securities fraud class action concerning Fannie Mae's disclosures and financial statements;
• JPMorgan in several matters, including the litigations and regulatory matters arising out of Bear Stearns' March 2008 collapse, various subprime, credit crisis and mortgage-related litigations, and the DOJ's and SEC's inquiry into the firm's Asia hiring practices;
• The National Football League in several matters, including its defense and recent settlement of hundreds of lawsuits filed by thousands of former NFL players seeking to hold the League liable for allegedly concealing the risks associated with concussions sustained while playing professional football, as well as its investigation of workplace issues at the Miami Dolphins;
• UBS in several matters, including its settlement with the Antitrust Division of the DOJ, the SEC, the Internal Revenue Service and a group of 25 state attorneys general regarding investigations into the firm's former municipal reinvestment and derivatives group, as well as various subprime, credit crisis and mortgage-related litigations; and
• Wall Street underwriters in several securities class action litigations, including class actions arising out of the $25 billion GM/GMAC bond offering and the $20+ billion AIG bond offering.

Representative Clients

Brad currently represents Citigroup, JPMorgan, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, Standard Chartered, HSBC, Bank of New York Mellon, UBS, Apollo Global Management, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Deloitte, The National Football League, FIFA, MacAndrews & Forbes, ING, Bloomberg, Citco, Ericsson, Newmont Mining, Merck, Zilkha, SICPA, BB&T, Eton Park, OneWest Bank, CIM Group, Zurich Capital, Aurora Bank and KKR, among others, in significant securities, commercial and regulatory matters.

Awards and Recognitions

Brad has been profiled as one of the leading lawyers in the United States by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Financial Times, The American Lawyer, Chambers, The Lawyer (U.K.), Crain's, The National Law Journal, The New York Law Journal, Lawdragon, Best Lawyers in America, The Legal 500, Euromoney Institutional Investors, Best of the Best USA, Law360, and Benchmark/Institutional Investor.

Brad's successful representation of financial institutions and other companies in complex litigations and regulatory matters was featured in a January 2014 American Lawyer cover story in which Paul, Weiss was selected as the best securities litigation/regulatory firm in the United States, in a January 2010 American Lawyer story, "Wall Street Bailout," and in a January 2006 American Lawyer cover story, "The Lifesavers," in which Paul, Weiss was selected as the best litigation firm in the United States. In 2003, Brad was profiled in The American Lawyer as one of the 45 leading lawyers in the United States under the age of 45.

For the past several years, Brad has been named one of the Most Influential People in the Boardroom by the National Association of Corporate Directors. In 2014 Crain's named Brad one of the Most Influential New Yorkers. In 2011, Lawdragon named Brad its "Lawyer of the Year." For the past several years, Chambers has selected Brad as the only "Star" in its Nationwide Securities Litigation category. Best Lawyers named Brad its 2014 "Banking and Finance Litigator of the Year," and its 2012 "Securities Litigator of the Year." In 2012, The Financial Times selected Brad as one of the 10 most innovative lawyers in the United States. In 2013, Benchmark Litigation/Euromoney selected Brad its "Litigator of the Year." In 2013, the New York Law Journal awarded Brad its first-ever Impact Award, in recognition of his "significant and lasting impact on the legal community in New York."

Brad has received a number of recognitions for his legal accomplishments and charitable activities, including the Servant of Justice Award by The Legal Aid Society, the 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 Torch of Learning Award by American Friends of Hebrew University, the Corporate Protector Award by Citizens' Committee for Children and the Extraordinary New Yorker Award by the JBFCS.

Boards and Other Professional Affiliations

Brad is active in the community, serving as a director/trustee of the Legal Action Center, the Riverdale Country School, Mount Sinai Hospital, The Partnership for New York City, the Harvard Law School Leadership Council, the Executive Committee of the New York City Bar Association, the American Constitution Society, Practicing Attorneys for Law Students Program, Inc., the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, American Friends of Hebrew University, the New York Bar Foundation, the Program Advisory Board of the Brennan Center for Justice, the Best Lawyers Advisory Board, the Economic Club of New York, the Federal Bar Council Second Circuit Inn of Court, the Union College President's Council, and the United States Supreme Court Historical Society. Brad also is a founding member of the PriceWaterhouse Leaders Council examining financial services industry regulatory reform, and a member of The New York City Bar Association Task Force on New Lawyers in a Changing Profession.

Practices

• Litigation
• Cybersecurity & Data Protection
• Financial Institutions
• International Arbitration
• Securities Litigation
• White Collar Crime & Regulatory Defense
  

Education

• J.D., Harvard Law School, 1984
  cum laude
• B.A., Union College, 1981
  summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa

Clerkship

• Hon. Irving R. Kaufman, U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit

Bar Admissions

• New York

See Library Tab for articles, publications and presentations by Brad Karp