Original Jurisdiction David Lat

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Continuing my M&A miniseries here at Original Jurisdiction, I wanted to welcome another dealmaker to the podcast. And as Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month draws to a close, I wanted to interview another AANHPI attorney, including some discussion of their family’s story and how their identity might have shaped their career.
So I was delighted when Paul Shim agreed to join me. A partner at Cleary Gottlieb since 1996, Paul is an established star of the M&A bar, Chambers-ranked in that elite specialty for more than two decades. And we share a few things in common: we’re both the children of Asian immigrants, we both grew up in New Jersey, and we both live in the Garden State today (in neighboring towns, in fact).
Paul’s parents immigrated to the United States after the Korean War. Following in the footsteps of his father, who holds a Ph.D. in engineering, Paul studied the subject at MIT, earning a master’s degree in chemical engineering. So how did Paul end up in M&A as opposed to, say, IP law? What skills does he credit for his success in this high-stakes, high-stress practice area? And how has his AAPI background contributed to everything from his choice of firm to his style as a dealmaker?
Listen to our conversation for the answers to these questions and more—including one of my favorite responses to the final question I pose to all my guests, a request for career or life advice. We can all benefit from Paul’s wisdom, and I’m so glad and grateful that he was able to join me.
Show Notes:
Paul Shim bio, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
Paul Shim profile, Chambers and Partners
Lawyer Limelight: Paul Shim, by Lawdragon
Prefer reading to listening? For paid subscribers, a transcript of the entire episode appears below.
Sponsored by:
NexFirm helps Biglaw attorneys become founding partners. To learn more about how NexFirm can help you launch your firm, call 212-292-1000 or email careerdevelopment@nexfirm.com.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit davidlat.substack.com

Welcome to Original Jurisdiction, the latest legal publication by me, David Lat. You can learn more about Original Jurisdiction by reading its About page, and you can email me at davidlat@substack.com. This is a reader-supported publication; you can subscribe by clicking here. Thanks!
After my fascinating conversation with Rodge Cohen of Sullivan & Cromwell, I wanted to interview another transactional lawyer for the Original Jurisdiction podcast. But to mix things up, I wanted to speak with an up-and-coming dealmaker rather than a senior statesperson. And because May is Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month, I was hoping to feature a lawyer of AANHPI descent.
Meet Shanu Bajaj, a mergers and acquisitions partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell. Although she hasn’t been a partner for long, Shanu has already been recognized as a star of the M&A bar. In February, she took the #3 spot in the MergerLinks ranking of Top Female M&A lawyers in North America. In March, The American Lawyer named Shanu one of its 2024 Dealmakers of the Year, based on her representation of ExxonMobil in 2023’s largest transaction, the oil giant’s $59.5 billion purchase of Pioneer Natural Resources.
What drew Shanu to M&A as a practice area? What are two abilities that she views as especially important for transactional attorneys? How does she describe her personal style as a dealmaker? And what are her tips for making partner in Biglaw, during a time when the rewards are richer—but the odds are longer—than ever?
Thanks to Shanu for taking the time to tackle these and many other topics with me, and congratulations to her on the well-deserved recognition of her talents. And with decades of deals ahead of her, she’s just getting warmed up.
Show Notes:
* Shanu Bajaj bio, Davis Polk & Wardwell
* The 2024 Dealmakers of The Year, The American Lawyer
* Which M&A Attorneys Drove the Most Business as Deal Leads?, by Patrick Smith for The American Lawyer
Prefer reading to listening? For paid subscribers, a transcript of the entire episode appears below.
Sponsored by:
NexFirm helps Biglaw attorneys become founding partners. To learn more about how NexFirm can help you launch your firm, call 212-292-1000 or email careerdevelopment@nexfirm.com.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit davidlat.substack.com

It might seem odd to bestow the title of “titan” upon someone once described in the New York Times as standing five-foot-two and weighing 100 pounds wet. But if you know anything about banking M&A and regulatory work, you know that H. Rodgin Cohen, senior chair of Sullivan & Cromwell, is a true giant of the field.
For more than 50 years, Rodge Cohen has practiced at the pinnacle of financial-services law. He’s played a role in many historical events over the decades, including New York City’s fiscal crisis, where he helped rescue the city from the brink of bankruptcy in 1975; the Iran hostage crisis, where he counseled American banks that released frozen Iranian funds, part of the deal that led to the 1981 release of the hostages; the 2008 financial crisis, where he represented the buyer or the seller in seemingly every major bank deal; and efforts last year to save Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic Bank.
In my latest podcast episode, I interview Rodge about his remarkable career, including his involvement in the aforementioned, headline-making events. But we also cover his childhood in West Virginia, his advice for how to succeed as a deal lawyer, and even his theater and reading recommendations—because despite his demanding practice, Rodge somehow finds the time to see numerous shows and read tons of books. (One recent work we both recommend is Paula Vogel’s Mother Play, which yesterday snagged four Tony Award nominations, including Best New Play.)
For my first-ever interview of a corporate or transactional attorney (as opposed to a litigator), I wanted to get a big name—and Rodge Cohen is one of the biggest and best in the business. I guessed that he would be “too big to fail”—and if you listen to our enjoyable and wide-ranging conversation, you’ll see that I was right.
Show Notes:
* H. Rodgin Cohen bio, Sullivan & Cromwell
* H. Rodgin Cohen profile, Chambers and Partners
* Trauma Surgeon of Wall Street, by Alan Feuer for the New York Times
* The Banking Industry’s Go-to Crisis Adviser, by DealBook for the New York Times
Prefer reading to listening? For paid subscribers, a transcript of the entire episode appears below.
Sponsored by:
NexFirm helps Biglaw attorneys become founding partners. To learn more about how NexFirm can help you launch your firm, call 212-292-1000 or email careerdevelopment@nexfirm.com.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit davidlat.substack.com

Welcome to Original Jurisdiction, the latest legal publication by me, David Lat. You can learn more about Original Jurisdiction by reading its About page, and you can email me at davidlat@substack.com. This is a reader-supported publication; you can subscribe by clicking here. Thanks!
Would you want to be a law school dean in the year 2024? The once-coveted post seems less fun, given the tension and polarization on university campuses these days, as well as more challenging than ever. One misstep or missed goal—a free-speech controversy gone viral, a fundraising target unmet, a double-digit drop in your school’s U.S. News ranking—and you could be out of a job.
Surviving to the end of one’s term as dean is already an accomplishment. Concluding a deanship with multiple achievements unlocked is even more impressive.
It’s difficult, but not impossible—as reflected in the record of Dean Risa Goluboff (pronounced REE-suh GOL-u-buff, in case you’re wondering). When her eight-year term as dean of the University of Virginia School of Law ends on June 30, she can take pride in around three dozen new faculty hires, completion of a $400 million capital campaign (more than a year ahead of schedule), and a #4 ranking in U.S. News—the highest in the history of the school.
What are some of the secrets of Dean Goluboff’s success? What does she view as the two biggest challenges facing American law schools today? And what is her excellent advice… about how to respond to advice?
Learn all this and more by listening to our podcast conversation. Thanks to Dean Goluboff for joining me, and congratulations to her on such a successful deanship.
Show Notes:
* Risa Goluboff bio, UVA Law School
* Dean Risa Goluboff To Step Down in 2024, Concluding History-Making Tenure, by Mary Wood for UVA Law School
* Common Law (hosted by Dean Risa Goluboff), Apple Podcasts
Prefer reading to listening? For paid subscribers, a transcript of the entire episode appears below.
Sponsored by:
NexFirm helps Biglaw attorneys become founding partners. To learn more about how NexFirm can help you launch your firm, call 212-292-1000 or email careerdevelopment@nexfirm.com.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit davidlat.substack.com

Welcome to Original Jurisdiction, the latest legal publication by me, David Lat. You can learn more about Original Jurisdiction by reading its About page, and you can email me at davidlat@substack.com. This is a reader-supported publication; you can subscribe by clicking here. Thanks!
How many Supreme Court advocates wind up with three or more arguments in the same Term? Some of my past podcast guests—like Lisa Blatt, Paul Clement, Neal Katyal, and Kannon Shanmugam—can claim this distinction. But it’s very, very rare (especially if you don’t work—or have never worked—in the Office of the Solicitor General).
What’s even more rare is having three oral arguments in your very first Term arguing before the Court. But Easha Anand, the 38-year-old co-director of Stanford Law School’s renowned Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, just pulled off this feat—which is why I was so eager to have her as a guest on the Original Jurisdiction podcast.
How did Easha wind up in law school, after a promising journalism career that included stints at the New Orleans Times-Picayune and the Wall Street Journal? How did she wind up with three Supreme Court arguments in the same Term? And what are her three pieces of advice for first-time SCOTUS advocates?
Listen to our podcast interview to find out. Congratulations to Easha on the unanimous win in her first argued case, thanks to her for joining me, and good luck to her in what I predict will be a long and successful career arguing at One First Street.
Show Notes:
* Easha Anand bio, Stanford Law School
* Stanford’s Anand Argues Whistleblower Case in High Court Debut, by Lydia Wheeler for Bloomberg Law
* Supreme Court Bar’s Breakout Lawyer This Term Started Out in Journalism, by Jimmy Hoover for the National Law Journal
Prefer reading to listening? For paid subscribers, a transcript of the entire episode appears below.
Sponsored by:
NexFirm helps Biglaw attorneys become founding partners. To learn more about how NexFirm can help you launch your firm, call 212-292-1000 or email careerdevelopment@nexfirm.com.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit davidlat.substack.com

Welcome to Original Jurisdiction, the latest legal publication by me, David Lat. You can learn more about Original Jurisdiction by reading its About page, and you can email me at davidlat@substack.com. This is a reader-supported publication; you can subscribe by clicking here. Thanks!
Chris Christie has had an interesting and eventful career in public life. He served as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey from 2002 to 2008, then as Governor of the Garden State from 2010 to 2018. And he was a candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, until his January withdrawal from the race.
People tend to have strong opinions about Christie. Some respect his outspoken criticism of Donald Trump, which was the centerpiece of his presidential campaign. Others do not—perhaps because they support Trump, or perhaps because they can’t forgive Christie for having been for Trump before he was against him. (In some ways Christie is his own harshest critic for this, admitting in his speech withdrawing from the race that he endorsed Trump because he put personal ambition over what he knew was right.)
I’m not a neutral observer when it comes to Chris Christie. I worked for him as an assistant U.S. attorney from 2003 to 2006, and I like and respect him a great deal. As we discuss at the start of this podcast episode, I’m especially grateful for how he dealt with me in the wake of the scandal over my very first blog, Underneath Their Robes. But that didn’t stop me from asking him difficult questions on the podcast, including his biggest regrets—yes, he talks about Bridgegate—and whom he might vote for in the presidential election. We also review his legal career, including his advice for law students and his three biggest cases as U.S. Attorney.
Congratulations to Governor Christie on his latest book—What Would Reagan Do? Life Lessons from the Last Great President, which we discuss on the podcast—and thanks to him for both his past kindness and willingness to join me today.
Show Notes:
* Chris Christie bio, Christie 55 Solutions
* What Would Reagan Do? Life Lessons from the Last Great President, Amazon
Prefer reading to listening? For paid subscribers, a transcript of the entire episode appears below.
Sponsored by:
NexFirm helps Biglaw attorneys become founding partners. To learn more about how NexFirm can help you launch your firm, call 212-292-1000 or email careerdevelopment@nexfirm.com.