The leader of the pro bono practice at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison is resigning from the law firm, within weeks of the elite firm striking a deal with President Trump to lift an executive order that had threatened its ability to represent clients with business before the federal government.
Steven Banks, a former New York City social services commissioner, said in a statement he was leaving his post at Paul Weiss, where he has served as special counsel for the past three years, in order to return to his roots. He said he would work for the rights of the homeless by providing legal services to the Coalition for the Homeless and The Legal Aid Society.
“This has been weighing on me since the November election,” Mr. Banks said. “At this historical moment, I know that I belong back on the front lines fighting for the things that I have believed in since I first walked in the door of The Legal Aid Society as a staff attorney in 1981.”
Mr. Banks, reached by phone, said he would let the statement speak for itself.
While Mr. Banks, 68, did not mention Paul Weiss’s settlement with the White House, his departure comes as the New York-based law firm has faced a barrage of criticism for not standing up to Mr. Trump or fighting his broader attacks on the legal system.
In recent weeks, Mr. Trump has issued executive orders restricting the ability of some major law firms, like Paul Weiss, to interact with the federal government. Mr. Trump has largely focused his attacks against those law firms that supported his political opponents, hired lawyers critical of him or worked with prosecutors who had been investigating him.
Some firms, like Paul Weiss, have reached deals, while others, like Jenner & Block, WilmerHale and Perkins Coie, are fighting the legally dubious orders in court.
The president’s attacks also extended to a memo released last month directing the attorney general “to seek sanctions against attorneys and law firms who engage in frivolous, unreasonable and vexatious litigation against the United States.”
At a White House event on Tuesday, Mr. Trump suggested that law firms that settle with the administration could reap rewards. He said they could be called on to help negotiate trade deals with countries he hit with tariffs. “We’re going to have to use those, those great law firms, I think, to help us with that,” he said.
As part of deal with the White House, Paul Weiss pledged $40 million in pro bono legal services to issues the president has championed, such as combating antisemitism “and other mutually agreed projects.”
The deal was negotiated by Brad Karp, the longtime chair of Paul Weiss, who flew to Washington for an Oval Office meeting with Mr. Trump and several of his advisers. Mr. Karp has said reaching an agreement was necessary to prevent big clients from leaving the firm, but members of the broader legal community, including former associates of Paul Weiss, said it was a dangerous capitulation.
Elizabeth J. Grossman, a former associate of the firm who is executive director of Common Cause Illinois, helped organize an open letter to Mr. Karp that called the decision to settle “cowardly.” The letter, which was ultimately signed by more than 170 alumni of the firm, noted that “the very independence of lawyers and the legal profession is at stake.”
Within Paul Weiss, some associates are worried that the deal will undermine the firm’s commitment to provide free legal work to public interest groups and causes the White House disapproves of. In many ways, Mr. Banks personified that commitment.
Mr. Banks joined Paul Weiss in 2022 after serving for nearly eight years as commissioner of the New York City Department of Social Services. Before that, he worked for three decades at the Legal Aid Society, where he was best known for bringing a landmark case that secured the right to shelter for homeless families in New York City.
At Paul Weiss, Mr. Banks continued to work with Legal Aid in preserving the right to shelter for the homeless. The law firm trumpeted its work in that case in a news release posted on the firm’s website.
Laura Van Drie, a Paul Weiss spokeswoman, said, “We thank Steve for his leadership and many contributions over the past three years.” She added, “We remain committed to providing impactful pro bono legal assistance to individuals and organizations in need.”
Three law firms are currently fighting Mr. Trump in court, and federal judges in each of those cases have temporarily stopped the president’s orders restricting their work. Many in the legal community — including lawyers at smaller firms, law professors and bar associations — have rallied to support the firms that are taking the Trump administration to court.
Mr. Banks noted in his statement that he had just become a grandfather. He said his decision to leave Paul Weiss was in part motivated by a desire to be able to tell his granddaughter when she is older that he did something where he “could make a difference.”
