Paul Hastings LLP is an American multinational law firm with over 1,000 lawyers in 23 offices throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia. The firm represents a client base in finance, M&A, private equity, private credit, and litigation. The firm specializes in white collar and government disputes, energy, infrastructure, and intellectual property. Paul Hastings is ranked as one of the most prestigious law firms in the United States.

History

Paul Hastings was founded in Los Angeles in 1951 by Lee Paul, Robert Hastings, and Leonard Janofsky. Its largest office is in New York, with additional offices elsewhere in the United States and throughout Asia, Europe, Latin America. As of October 2022, the chairman of the firm is Frank Lopez. Over the last two decades, the firm more than tripled its profits per partner to become one of the largest and strongest law firms in the world. Over this period, the firm has had the largest profit per partner growth in the highest-grossing half of the Am Law 100. In October 2021, the firm announced that Mr. Zachary would step down as Chair in October 2022. Frank Lopez, co-head of the firm’s securities and capital markets practice and partner in the firm’s leveraged finance practice in New York, was voted chair-elect effective October 2021. Washington, D.C.–based Sherrese Smith, vice chair of the firm’s data privacy and cybersecurity practice and partner in the firm’s media, technology and telecommunications practice, was elected managing partner. In November 2023, amid a wave of antisemitic incidents at elite U.S. law schools, Paul Hastings was among a group of major law firms who sent a letter to top law school deans warning them that an escalation in incidents targeting Jewish students would have corporate hiring consequences. The letter said "We look to you to ensure your students who hope to join our firms after graduation are prepared to be an active part of workplace communities that have zero tolerance policies for any form of discrimination or harassment, much less the kind that has been taking place on some law school campuses."

Notable current or former attorneys