Brad Karp Heckled at Gala as He Defends Paul Weiss Pro Bono

Paul Weiss chairman Brad Karp defended the firm’s pro bono work in the wake of its deal with President Donald Trump, as he was heckled and protested at a bar association event.

In a nearly 30-minute speech Friday night at the New York Bar Foundation gala honoring Paul Weiss partner Loretta Lynch, Karp listed the firm’s past and present pro bono work for liberal causes.

He said the firm “continues to fight” for abortion rights and is “seeking to hold gun manufacturers” accountable for mass shootings. He also touted the firm’s work representing “victims of murderous hate” at the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville.

“But this has been an incredibly painful and difficult year for our firm and for me personally,” he said. “The most challenging year of my life.”

Karp said he had a major heart attack in January, “and then in March, my firm and I faced something even worse. We were targeted by the current administration in large part because of our lawyers’ high-profile work on pro bono matters. We ultimately resolved that existential threat.”

At that point, someone at the gala shouted at him, “How?”

Karp continued: “This year, notwithstanding the challenges and attacks, we dramatically increased our pro bono work.”

The heckler then shouted at him repeatedly: “For Trump?”

Karp ignored the interruptions and said the firm is on track “to contribute a record number” of pro bono hours this year and devote “more than $175 million in pro bono services,” while the heckler continued to shout. It wasn’t clear who the heckler was.

The Wall Street firm lost a string of litigation partners following the March 20 deal with Trump to provide $40 million in free legal services. The move got Paul Weiss out from under a punitive executive order that Karp said at the time threatened the firm’s survival.

Before the event even began, dozens of protesters gathered outside the upscale Manhattan event hall carrying signs that read “PAUL WEISS SELLS OUT DEMOCRACY.”

James Kunen, a lawyer and demonstrator who showed up with a sign reading “STOP COLLABORATING” said he came “to shame” firms that struck deals with Trump.

In his speech, Karp also touched on a broad range of social issues that he said makes pro bono legal work “more urgent than ever before.”

“Our national safety net is in tatters,” he said.

He lamented “increasing political polarization” and a “toxic social media climate spewing rampant hate, making vulnerable groups feel scapegoated.”

In her remarks, Lynch, who served as US Attorney General under President Barack Obama, didn’t address the firm’s deal with Trump but said “our faith in our institutions is being tested.”

The event was to honor “advocates for justice, equality, and the rule of law” and honorees included Lynch, Whitney Chatterjee, chief legal officer at Apollo Global Management, and Carrie Cohen from Morrison & Foerster.