Davis Polk & Wardwell, firing back against a high-profile racial discrimination suit brought by former associate Kaloma Cardwell, claims the lawyer has a documented history of poor performance and he didn’t improve, despite efforts to coach him.

Davis Polk has retained Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison, including partners Bruce Birenboim, Jeh Johnson and Susanna Buergel, to seek to dismiss the suit, according to Dec. 13 court documents.