Paul, Weiss Denounces Anti-Semitism in Statement Condemning Recent Attacks Across the U.S.

Paul, Weiss Chairman Brad S. Karp has enlisted dozens of the nation’s elite law firm leaders to issue a powerful and unified statement condemning the recent national surge in anti-Semitic attacks and negative portrayals of Jews in the press and on social media.

For nearly a century, Paul, Weiss has been a leading voice against bigotry, hate and violence in all its forms. In just the past few years, we have coalesced the legal community repeatedly to join us in condemning intolerance, hatred and violence against Black, Asian-American and Pacific Islander, and LGBTQ communities and against vulnerable immigrants and refugees, among others.

Speaking out and fighting against injustice is deeply imbedded in Paul, Weiss’s history. Our firm’s very founding represented a frontal challenge of prevailing bigotry in the profession; Jewish lawyers who entered the profession in New York City a century ago struggled to be hired by non-Jewish firms and found it impossible to become partners. Louis Weiss and John Wharton, who founded Paul, Weiss predecessor firm Weiss & Wharton in 1923, were determined to build a firm that aggressively disregarded the the unspoken rule that Jews and Gentiles neither practiced together nor attracted clients of their respective creeds--ultimately helping transform the then-cultural norms of the New York legal community. In 1946, Weiss worked alongside Eleanor Roosevelt as a founding director and vice president of the U.S. Committee for the Care of European Children during World War II to relocate refugees from that troubled continent and to change American policy towards immigration.

We will continue to lead in this critically important battle for justice and equality, standing for what is right for everyone in our global society.

The statement, which was published by The American Lawyer on its Op-Ed pages on May 27, is below.

Statement Condemning Anti-Semitism

"As leaders of the largest law firms in the United States, we publicly denounce anti-Semitism and the demonization of Jews pervading the press, social media, and the streets of this country.

We stand for the rule of law and the tolerance and inclusion of all. We have protested the senseless murder of George Floyd and countless others at the hands of the police; we have publicly condemned acts of violence and hatred against Asian Pacific Islanders, Black, Latinx, LGBTQ, and Muslim communities; we are litigating against hate groups to hold them accountable for their racist and violent acts; we have litigated seminal civil rights cases; we have fought efforts to separate children from their parents’ arms at our borders; we have fought to expand the right to marry to include same-sex couples; and we are engaged in the struggle to end gun violence. We are advocates who take action to redress the wrongs in our country and to protect the vulnerable.

Today, and every day, we stand against the pernicious and violent attacks against Jews in this country. We are horrified by the vitriolic hate being spewed, by both the uneducated and the educated who know better, on social media. We are disheartened and alarmed by the lack of urgency in denouncing these escalating and offensive attacks on Jews. In the face of these acts in our own country, we are frightened by the silence of a nation that vowed never to forget the massacre of millions at the hands of hate.

An attack on any group based on race, religion, color, sexual orientation, or national origin — including Jewish people — is an assault on the values of diversity, equality and inclusion that are the bedrock of this country and that we as law firms strive to uphold in our own institutions. We call on our colleagues, the leaders of corporate America, and private and public academic institutions, including law schools, to stand with us and publicly denounce anti-Semitism, in all of its forms."

Signatories

Leaders of the following law firms have joined the statement:

• Akerman LLP — Scott A. Meyers, Chairman & CEO
• Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP — Kim Koopersmith, Chairperson
• Blank Rome LLP — Grant S. Palmer, Managing Partner and CEO; and Alan Hoffman, Chair
• Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP — Patrick T. Quinn, Managing Partner
• Cahill Gordon & Reindel — William M. Hartnett, Chairman of Executive Committee
• Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LP — Michael A. Gerstenzang, Managing Partner
• Cooley LLP — Joe Conroy, Chairman and CEO
• Cozen O'Connor P.C. — Michael J. Heller, Executive Chairman and CEO
• Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP — Faiza J. Saeed, Presiding Partner
• Crowell & Moring LLP — Philip T. Inglima, Chair, Management Board
• Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP — Neil Barr, Managing Partner
• Davis Wright Tremaine LLP — Jeffrey P. Gray, Firmwide Managing Partner; and Scott W. MacCormack, Firmwide Managing Partner
• Debevoise & Plimpton LLP — Michael W. Blair, Presiding Partner
• Dechert LLP — Andrew J. Levander, Chair of Policy Committee
• Duane Morris — Matthew A. Taylor, Chairman and CEO
• Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP — Mark D. Wasserman, Co-Chief Executive Officer
• Fenwick & West LLP — Rodger R. Cole, Firmwide Managing Partner
• Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP — Alan Mason, Global Managing Partner
• Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP — David J. Greenwald, Chairman
• Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP — Barbara L. Becker, Chair and Managing Partner
• Goodwin Procter LLP — Robert S. Insolia, Chairman; and Mark T. Bettencourt, Managing Partner
• Haynes and Boone, LLP — Taylor H. Wilson, Managing Partner
• Hogan Lovells US LLP — Miguel Zaldivar, Chief Executive Officer
• Jenner & Block LLP — Katya Jestin, Co-Managing Partner; and Randall E. Mehrberg, Co-Managing Partner
• Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP — Noah S. Heller, Chief Executive Officer
• Kirkland & Ellis LLP — Jon A. Ballis P.C., Chairman
• Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP — Paul H. Schoeman, Co-Managing Partner; and Howard T. Spilko, Co-Managing Partner
• Lane Powell PC — Barbara J. Duffy, President
• Latham & Watkins LLP — Richard M. Trobman, Chair and Managing Partner
• Loeb & Loeb LLP — Kenneth R. Florin, Chairman
• Mayer Brown LLP — Paul W. Theiss, Chairman
• McDermott Will & Emery — Ira J. Coleman, Chairman
• Milbank LLP — Scott A. Edelman, Chairman; and David J. Wolfson, Executive Director
• Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. — Robert I. Bodian, Managing Partner
• Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP — Jami McKeon, Chair
• Morrison & Foerster LLP — Tessa J. Schwartz, Managing Partner; Craig D. Martin, Managing Partner
• Nixon Peabody LLP — Stephen D. Zubiago, CEO & Managing Partner
• Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP — Jeff Cody, Managing Partner; and Shauna Clark, Global Chair and US Chair
• O'Melveny & Myers LLP — Bradley J. Butwin, Chairman
• Paul Hastings LLP — Seth Zachary, Chairman
• Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP — Brad S. Karp, Chairman
• Perkins Coie LLP — William G. Malley, Managing Partner
• Polsinelli — Chase Simmons, Chairman & CEO
• Proskauer Rose LLP — Steven M. Ellis, Chairman; and Daryn A. Grossman, Managing Partner
• Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP — John B. Quinn, Founder
• Reed Smith LLP — Sandy Thomas, Global Managing Partner
• Ropes & Gray LLP — Julie H. Jones, Chair
• Sheppard Mullin — Guy Halgren, Chairman
• Sidley Austin LLP — Mike Schmidtberger, Chair of Firm Executive Committee
• Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP — William R. Dougherty, Chairman of Firm Executive Committee
• Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP — Eric J. Friedman, Executive Partner
• Steptoe & Johnson LLP — Philip R. West, Chair
• Sullivan & Cromwell LLP — Joseph C. Shenker, Chair
• Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP — Stephen E. Lewis, Chair; and Thomas J. Cole, Jr., Managing Partner
• Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz — Daniel A. Neff, Co-Chairman of Executive Committee
• Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP — Barry M. Wolf, Executive Partner and Chair of Firm’s Management Committee
• White & Case LLP — Hugh Verrier, Chairman
• Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP Matthew A. Feldman, Chairman; and Thomas M. Cerabino, Chairman
• Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP — Robert T. Novick, Co-Managing Partner
• Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati — Douglas J. Clark, Managing Partner
• Winston & Strawn LLP — Thomas P. Fitzgerald, Chairman