Paul Curnin is Co-Chair of the Firm’s Litigation Department.  He concentrates on securities matters, government and internal investigations, and corporate control litigation.  Mr. Curnin represents corporate clients such as KKR, Travelers and JPMorgan Chase, among others, as well as boards, committees and individuals.  He has handled numerous SEC enforcement proceedings and internal investigations on behalf of corporate clients and special committees. 

Mr. Curnin was lead defense counsel in SEC v. WorldCom and negotiated WorldCom’s settlement with the SEC.  He also represented the outside directors of WorldCom in securities class action litigation.  Mr. Curnin obtained the dismissal of the Section 10(b) claims against the Audit Committee and negotiated the resolution of all civil exposure facing the directors. 

Mr. Curnin joined Simpson Thacher in 1990 and became a partner in 1995.  In 2003, he was named one of the country’s top “45 Lawyers Under 45” by American Lawyer.  He has been listed in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business since 2004 in the categories of securities litigation and also government investigations.  Mr. Curnin has also been recognized as a Litigation Star nationally for securities and in New York for securities and white collar crime by Euromoney’s Benchmark Litigation.  Mr. Curnin is the chairman of the Second Circuit Committee on Admissions and Grievances.   Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Curnin was a trial attorney with the Federal Defenders for the Southern District of New York, and served as a law clerk to the Hon. Roger Wollman of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals and the late Hon. Lloyd F. MacMahon of the Southern District of New York.

Recent publications include “Defending Subprime Claims” in Litigating Securities Class Actions (LexisNexis 2011); and “Mergers and Acquisitions” in Commercial Litigation in New York State Courts (3d ed. 2010).

Mr. Curnin received his B.A. from Dartmouth College in 1983 and his J.D. from Fordham University School of Law in 1987. 

Publications

•	As Judicial Scrutiny of the SEC’s Settlement Practices Mounts, the SEC Adopts a Limited Change to Its ‘Neither Admit Nor Deny’ Policy

Admissions

•	New York 1988
•	U.S. Supreme Court 1995
•	U.S. District Court Eastern District of New York 1988
•	U.S. District Court Southern District of New York 1988
•	U.S. District Court Western District of New York 1997
•	U.S. District Court Western District of Michigan 2010
•	U.S. Court of Appeals 2nd Circuit 1989
•	U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit 1989
•	U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit 2002

Clerkships

•	Hon. Roger Wollman, U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit, 1987-1988; Hon. Lloyd F. MacMahon, U.S. District Court Southern District of New York, 1988-1989.

Education

•	Fordham University School of Law, 1987 J.D.
•	Dartmouth College, 1983 B.A.