Partners

Brad Karp has been the 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 companies and individuals through “bet the company” litigations, regulatory matters, internal investigations, and corporate crises. Prior to being named chairman, Brad chaired 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” and “someone who every CEO in America should have on speed dial,” by The New York Times as “the most connected lawyer in the country,” and by Best Lawyers as “the most talented, responsive, client-sensitive, creative, effective lawyer of his generation in the country, no question.”

Brad has been named multiple times as “Lawyer of the Year” and “Litigator of the Year.” Brad has earned dozens of industry awards and recognitions for his successful client representations and legal achievements and for his role as a leader in the legal profession, the business community and the public interest world. Brad is active in the community, serving on more than 30 public interest, educational, cultural and charitable boards and has received numerous recognitions for his pro bono accomplishments and charitable service.

Dave Curran is the Executive Director of the ESG and Law Institute, a forum of businesses and academic institutions dedicated to the independent study of issues relating to the intersection of ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) issues, business and the law. Dave is also the Co-Chair, Sustainability and ESG Advisory Practice, at Paul, Weiss, where he leads the Practice and develops and promotes the firm’s internal ESG practices.

As one of the nation’s foremost experts in ESG, Dave has a longstanding history of convening best-in-the-business ESG experts, business leaders and members of the legal community to discuss the myriad corporate sustainability and social responsibility imperatives that businesses face today. More than 1,000 lawyers, C-Suite executives, board members, industry experts, academics and students have attended these immensely popular roundtables and events, hosted by Paul, Weiss. Dave has also done adjunct work and lectured at Harvard, Boston University, New York University, New York Law School, The New School, Rutgers, and others.

Dave is a recognized leader in helping complex organizations build resilience. In addition to his work in the ESG space, he has more than 30 years of experience in legal, technology, compliance, risk and ethics roles. Dave has led many popular Thought Leadership conversations with senior executives on a variety of topics where business and technology intersect with the legal, compliance and risk ecosystems, including Transforming Law, Big Data, #MeToo and many others.

Dave began his career as a media trial and appellate lawyer before moving to senior in-house legal, compliance and regulatory affairs positions. He was previously Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer at FiscalNote, a legal AI/technology company, and held senior business and legal leadership roles with Thomson Reuters, IntraLinks, Integrity Interactive, Havas, Vertis and Campbell Soup Company.

Dave serves as co-chair of the New York State Bar Association’s ESG Committee, which aims to educate and engage New York lawyers, law students and faculty on ESG practices and developments through thought leadership and robust educational programs.

Valerie Radwaner has been the Deputy Chair of Paul, Weiss since 2014, where she has spearheaded a wide range of important strategic initiatives. As a longtime partner in the Finance group, Valerie has advised numerous corporate borrowers, leading private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies, and alternative lenders in a broad range of corporate finance transactions. Valerie has spent her entire career at Paul, Weiss.

Valerie has been recognized by numerous legal publications and directories for her work on behalf of clients. In 2021, Who’s Who Legal noted Valerie’s “top-tier work advising corporate borrowers and private equity sponsors,” and Lawdragon named her to its 500 Leading Dealmakers in America guide.

A longtime advocate for diversity throughout the legal profession, Valerie has been recognized by LEADERS Magazine, Corporate Counsel, Crain’s New York Business and Euromoney for her leadership in the legal industry on diversity, equity and inclusion matters. She serves on several civic, educational, cultural and charitable boards, as well as on various professional organizations devoted to women’s leadership and DEI.

Melinda Haag, a partner in the Litigation Department, is widely recognized as among the nation’s leading trial lawyers. Over more than three decades, Melinda has led or co-led more than 20 jury and bench trials, including complex white collar and civil rights cases, and has handled numerous white collar criminal matters, corporate investigations and complex commercial litigations. Melinda has long represented companies and their boards in law enforcement and multi-regulator investigations and in internal investigations, as well as senior executives in connection with government and internal investigations.

Melinda has had a distinguished career in public service. During her five-year tenure as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California, she spearheaded numerous high-profile investigations and prosecutions. Earlier, Melinda served for nine years as a federal prosecutor, ultimately being tapped by then-U.S. Attorney Robert Mueller as Chief of the White Collar section of the San Francisco office.

A Fellow with the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers, Melinda has been recognized twice by the Daily Journal as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in California.

Melinda is an alumna of the Institute’s inaugural academic partner, the Berkeley School of Law.

Meredith Dearborn, a partner in the Litigation Department, has significant experience trying high-stakes commercial disputes for leading technology companies.

Meredith has taken nine cases to trial, winning favorable outcomes on behalf of several of the largest tech firms in Northern California. Her matters involve a variety of substantive areas, including intellectual property, contract, antitrust, and California state statutory and common law issues.

Meredith has long been recognized for her talent and dynamism. In 2021, Law360 named Meredith a Rising Star in the “Technology” category and the Daily Journal recognized her as a “Top 40 Under 40” lawyer. The American Lawyer previously named Meredith a “Litigator of the Week” for a high-stakes trial win on behalf of a large technology company in federal court in Boston. In 2018, Meredith was recognized as one of Silicon Valley’s “40 Under 40” by Silicon Valley Business Journal and as a Next Generation Honoree in The Recorder’s 2018 “Women Leaders in Tech Law.” She was also named a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers for eight consecutive years.

Meredith is an alumna of the Institute’s inaugural academic partner, the Berkeley School of Law.

Adam Sterling is the Executive Director, Berkeley Center for Law and Business and Director of Executive Education at Berkeley Law. He is also the co-founder of Startup@BerkeleyLaw. Previously he was a startup and venture capital attorney at Gunderson Dettmer and the co-founder and director of the Sudan Divestment Task Force and Conflict Risk Network.

Adam’s writings and work have appeared extensively in the press; including contributions to The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle and National Public Radio. He has appeared on a number of broadcast news programs, including CNN’s Situation Room and CNBC’s Street Signs.

Amelia Miazad is the Founding Director and Senior Research Fellow at the Business in Society Institute at Berkeley Law School. Amelia teaches several courses at the intersection of stakeholder capitalism and corporate governance. In addition to her in-residence teaching at Berkeley Law, Amelia has designed and teaches several executive education courses for C-Suite executives and board members around the world.

Amelia’s recent publications explore stakeholder governance and ESG as a process for overseeing risk and a powerful tool for transforming corporate culture. Amelia’s curriculum and scholarship rely heavily on input from experts who are implementing environmental and social considerations into their business and investment practices. She regularly presents to audiences of corporate executives in the U.S., South America and Europe.

Danielle Holley-Walker is the Dean of Howard University School of Law. Dean Holley-Walker is a scholar of education law and civil rights, and an expert on diversity in the legal profession and higher education. Dean Holley-Walker holds a B.A. from Yale University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, and she was a law clerk to Judge Carl E. Stewart on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Dean Holley-Walker joined Howard University School of Law in 2014 as the dean and a professor of law. She teaches a wide variety of classes, including Legislation and Regulation, Inequality and Education, Civil Procedure, Administrative Law, Federal Courts, and Leadership for Lawyers. Her scholarship focuses on the governance of public schools, increasing access to higher education, and diversity in the legal profession.

Dean Holley-Walker has won numerous awards, including the inaugural Impact Award from the Association of American Law Schools, the American Bar Foundation’s Montgomery Summer Research Diversity Fellowship Distinguished Alumni Award, the Lutie Lytle Conference Outstanding Scholar Award, the National Bar Association’s Heman Sweat Award, and the University of South Carolina Educational Foundation’s Outstanding Service Award. She was twice awarded the Outstanding Faculty Member award during her tenure at the University of South Carolina School of Law.

Dean Holley-Walker serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and on the board of the Howard University Middle School for Math and Science. She is a Liberty Fellow through the Aspen Global Leadership Network. She is also a fellow with the American Council of Education.