Print RSS Alumni Inclusion Contact Us Publications Keyword search PRACTICES PEOPLE INSIGHTS CAREERS About the Firm Firm News Paul, Weiss Denounces Anti-Semitism in Statement Condemning Recent Attacks Across the U.S. FIRM NEWS May 27, 2021 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 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 Share This Events & Publications New York City Department of Social Services Commissioner Steven Banks Joins Paul, Weiss as Special Counsel for Pro Bono Nov 22, 2021 FIRM NEWS Steven Banks, New York City’s Commissioner of the Department of Social Services and former Attorney-in-Chief of the Legal Aid Society, will be joining Paul, Weiss as Special Counsel in a role overseeing the firm’s nationally… Standard Chartered Group GC David Fein Joins Paul, Weiss as Special Counsel Nov 09, 2021 FIRM NEWS David Fein will join the firm as special counsel in the Litigation Department beginning January 2022. Leading M&A Partners Join Paul, Weiss Nov 01, 2021 FIRM NEWS Jeffrey Lazard Kochian and Gerald Brant have joined the firm as partners in the Corporate Department. 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