Paul Mickey is a partner in Steptoe's Washington office, where he focuses primarily on employment law. He also serves as Steptoe’s marketing partner.

Mr. Mickey regularly advises regional and national organizations on matters of unjust dismissal, discrimination, and other workplace issues. He has been particularly active in defending EEO and contract claims; handling internal investigations; negotiating and resolving controversies under executive employment agreements; dealing with claims involving law firms; and counseling organizations through challenging workforce transitions, from reductions-in-force to executive-level departures and reorganizations. He previously served as Chair of the DC Bar's Committee on Individual Employment Rights and has handled several leading employment cases, including the first wrongful discharge case in Washington.

Mr. Mickey has argued successfully before the US Supreme Court, authored numerous briefs in that tribunal, and was counsel to the defendant in Harris v. Forklift Systems, the US Supreme Court's first ruling on environmental sexual harassment.

Mr. Mickey serves as an arbitrator or mediator in contract, commercial, workplace, and environmental matters, in both neutral and party-appointed capacities. He is a member the AAA Panel of Arbitrators, and serves as a mediator in the Appellate Mediation Program of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit.

Prior to joining Steptoe, Mr. Mickey spent many years as chair and managing partner of another large Washington law firm. His International Bar Association (IBA) keynote presentation "Project Management: What Law Firms Can Learn From the Big Five" was an early and influential examination of legal project management (LPM), and his contributions with respect to the use of technology, marketing, and strategic planning have been recognized through his election to the College of Law Practice Management and his appointment to the Legal Advisory Board of Martindale-Hubbell/Lexis Nexis. He is a former chair of the IBA's committee on information technology, and he serves on the Board of Editors of the Corporate Compliance & Regulatory Newsletter. Mr. Mickey served for six years as Executive Vice President-Law and Public Affairs of Amtrak. He also previously served in the US State Department's Office of the Legal Adviser.