A partner in the Litigation Department, Paul Brachman represents defendants in antitrust and other complex civil cases in state and federal court.
Recent significant representations include:
- Amazon in several matters, including obtaining the dismissal of a major antitrust lawsuit filed by the D.C. Attorney General challenging Amazon’s pricing policies nationwide, and defending Amazon in ongoing putative class actions alleging that Amazon’s “fair pricing” policy and Amazon’s contracts with wholesale suppliers violate the antitrust laws;
- Massage Envy Franchising, the country’s largest franchisor of massage service businesses, in defense of tort suits filed in jurisdictions nationwide alleging vicarious liability, negligence, fraud and violations of state unfair practices laws;
- Goldman Sachs in defense of a putative antitrust class action filed in the Southern District of New York alleging that defendant banks violated the antitrust laws by conspiring to inflate interest expenses paid by plaintiffs on municipal bonds;
- News Corporation and certain subsidiaries in defense of multiple antitrust actions brought by competitors, including successfully defending News Corporation in a three-week jury trial in the Southern District of New York;
- Coinbase Global in defense of consumer class actions; and
- ExxonMobil in defense of cases filed by attorneys general in multiple states.
Paul also has a very active pro bono practice. He recently secured major trial and appellate victories on behalf of North Carolina voters challenging the state’s 2018 voter ID law, S.B. 824. Paul first-chaired the 14-day trial, following which the court found that S.B. 824 was unconstitutional because it was motivated by an unlawful intent to target African American voters. Paul then led the appellate team that successfully defended the trial court’s judgment on appeal, securing a 4-3 decision from the North Carolina Supreme Court in December 2022. Paul was named an American Lawyer “Litigator of the Week” runner-up and a Reuters “Pro Bono Hero” for his trial work in this case. Paul also represented business owners and neighborhood associations in Charlottesville, Virginia, in a lawsuit against participants in the violent “Unite the Right” rally, which was favorably resolved through settlement. He has also secured sentence reductions under the D.C. Incarceration Reduction Amendment Act on behalf of youthful offenders who have demonstrated they are no longer a danger to the safety of any person or the community.
In law school, Paul served as editor-in-chief of the NYU Journal of Legislation & Public Policy and was named Best Oralist in the 2011–12 Orison S. Marden Moot Court competition.
Updated July 2024
