The chairman of one of the country’s most prestigious law firms stepped down after newly released government files indicated he maintained communication with Jeffrey Epstein years after the deceased financier registered as a sex offender.
“Leading Paul, Weiss for the past 18 years has been the honor of my professional life,” Brad Karp, who heads Paul Weiss, said in a statement released Wednesday night. “Recent reporting has created a distraction and has placed a focus on me that is not in the best interests of the firm.”
Documents released by the Department of Justice last week show that Karp and Epstein maintained communications as recently as 2019, the year Epstein died, and roughly a decade after he registered as a sex offender in 2008. Emails reported by the Financial Times and Bloomberg Law detail some of those communications. Epstein built relationships with a range of notable figures in the United States and worldwide throughout his enigmatic career, including Harvard leadership, Hollywood celebrities, scientists, prominent politicians, and figures such as President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton.
Karp was appointed chairman in 2008 and has been at Paul Weiss for over four decades. He will remain at the firm, though Scott Barshay, the previous chairman of the Paul Weiss corporate department, has been appointed chairman effective immediately. The law firm is the same one targeted by the Trump administration last year after being accused of targeting conservatives and pursuing “unlawful” diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Trump cut federal ties with the firm before Karp cut a deal with the White House, restoring the relationship.
One email Karp sent to Epstein in July 2015 thanked him for being “an extraordinary host.” The email referenced a dinner with Woody Allen and Karp.
“Jeffrey, I can’t thank you enough for including me in an evening I’ll never forget. It was truly ‘once in a lifetime’ in every way, though I hope to be invited again. You are an extraordinary host — and your home . . .!!!” Karp wrote the day after the scheduled dinner.
“There are many many nights of unique talents. you will be invited often,” Epstein replied.
Another email from the DOJ indicated Karp asked Epstein in 2016 if he could find a role for his son in a Woody Allen film. Karp told Epstein that his son “doesn’t need to be paid and he’s a really good, talented kid.” “I will ask, of course,” Epstein replied. “Can you tell me what role he would like to fill, I know little about the movies.”
In March 2019, Karp appeared to help Epstein review a decades-old plea deal on sex trafficking charges, months before the financier died in jail. Epstein’s lawyers later made that argument to intervene in a suit filed in Florida by two women who alleged they were trafficked by Epstein as minors, according to Bloomberg.
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In response to the report, Paul Weiss said: “Paul Weiss was retained by Leon Black, then the CEO of the firm’s longtime client Apollo, to negotiate a series of fee disputes with Jeffrey Epstein that spanned several years.”
“The firm was adverse to Epstein, and at no point did Paul Weiss or Brad Karp ever represent him,” the firm said.