Davis Polk Bias Suit Has Lawyers Pointing Fingers at Each Other

A closely watched race discrimination case against Wall Street law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP devolved into a squabble among lawyers on each side Monday after the attorney suing the firm was a no-show for his deposition.

Jeh Johnson, the Paul Weiss lawyer defending Davis Polk, traded barbs with David Jeffries, who is representing former Davis Polk associate Kaloma Cardwell, in a virtual hearing in a federal court in Manhattan. U.S. District Judge Gregory Wood called the hearing after Johnson alerted the court that Cardwell skipped a scheduled deposition Monday morning.

Johnson, who previously served as Homeland Security Secretary in the Obama administration, accused Jeffries of making “outright false” statements to the judge during the hearing. Jeffries, a plaintiffs lawyer who runs his own practice in New York, called Johnson’s statements to the court “simply untrue.”

The exchange is the latest sign of tensions ratcheting up as the case moves closer to trial.

It comes after Davis Polk recently dropped a request that Jeffries and Cardwell be hit with $100,000 in court sanctions for discovery abuses and accused the pair of making false and defamatory statements. Cardwell recently said the firm has been slow playing the turning over of documents during the pretrial process.

Cardwell sued Davis Polk in 2019, alleging that he faced persistent discrimination from partners over the course of four years at the firm. He said the firm’s performance review process was rigged against him and that he was denied work opportunities after complaining to federal and state employment rights agencies about the bias.

On Monday, the lawyers for each side debated how many hours Cardwell can be forced to sit for the deposition over the course of two days and the reach of a protection order limiting the sharing of certain confidential information during that deposition. Jeffries also accused Davis Polk of playing hardball on the scheduling of depositions for several firm partners accused of discrimination.

Wood ordered Cardwell to sit for his deposition Tuesday and Wednesday. The judge also told the lawyers he will be available to hear any disputes that come up when the questioning starts.

The case is Cardwell v. Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, S.D.N.Y., No. 1:19-cv-10256, hearing 3/22/2021.