It's been just three months since Kannon Shanmugam left Williams & Connolly to launch a U.S. Supreme Court and appellate litigation practice for Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. According to both Shanmugam and his new firm, the move is already paying off.

The group has grown rapidly since Shanmugam swapped firms at the end of January. Five more lawyers followed him from Williams & Connolly, and Paul Weiss' website now identifies more than a dozen lawyers in the group, including several partners who are also members of the firm's intellectual property practice.

Former Williams & Connolly associates Stacie Fahsel, Joel Johnson, William Marks and Benjamin Moskowitz are now with Paul Weiss in Washington, D.C., while Masha Hansford joined the firm as of counsel in Washington, D.C.