Roberta Kaplan, the lawyer who led Edie Windsor’s winning fight against the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), is leaving her firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison to start her own boutique firm, the New York Law Journal reports:
A mission of Kaplan and Co. will be to meld a private commercial practice with public interest practice, said Kaplan, who will continue litigating LGBT civil rights and social justice cases and continue representing pro bono clients such as the Campaign for Southern Equality. “Unfortunately, there’s no shortage of social justice issues to litigate,” she said.
Kaplan is expecting to make more hires soon at the firm, which will be fully operational by August. By fall, the firm expects to have about 12 to 14 attorneys, said Kaplan, declining to name any new additions.
Brad Karp, chairman of Paul Weiss, said the firm wishes her well. “Robbie will always be a part of the Paul Weiss family,” he said. “We are proud of her accomplishments.”
Kaplan had practiced at Paul Weiss for about 25 years. The Cleveland-born, Harvard-and-Columbia-educated attorney began her career there, left to clerk for then-New York Court of Appeals Chief Judge Judith Kaye for about 18 months and then returned to the firm.
