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Paul Weiss Installs Scott Barshay as Chairman After Brad Karp Resigns

The leadership change follows a Justice Department document release that revealed Brad Karp’s email exchanges with Jeffrey Epstein.

Overview

  • Karp’s resignation is effective immediately, and the firm says he will remain to focus full time on client service.
  • Paul Weiss says neither the firm nor Karp ever represented Epstein, asserting the contacts arose from its work for Apollo co-founder Leon Black in fee disputes with Epstein.
  • DOJ-posted records show messages between 2015 and 2019, including a March 2019 email in which Karp wrote that a draft motion for Epstein was “in great shape.”
  • The released emails also describe social interactions, planned meetings at Epstein’s New York townhouse, and a 2016 request seeking help for Karp’s son to work with Woody Allen.
  • Karp had chaired Paul Weiss since 2008 during a 40-year career at the firm, and he recently faced backlash over a firm-level agreement tied to a Trump executive order later rescinded.