Brad Karp is stepping down as chairman of Paul Weiss after a trove of emails released by the Justice Department detailed his connections with Jeffrey Epstein, the firm said.
The firm said Karp, who has led Paul Weiss since 2008, will immediately relinquish his role as chairman while remaining a partner and continuing client work.
Karp said leading Paul Weiss had been an honor, adding that recent reporting had become a distraction and placed a focus on him that was not in the firm's best interests.
Scott Barshay, the head of the firm's corporate practice, will lead Paul Weiss effective immediately, the firm said, with Barshay saying he stepped into the role with confidence in the firm's continued success.
The firm credited Karp with transforming Paul Weiss into a $2.6 billion operation and expanding its corporate work, while noting his client roster has included Citigroup, JPMorgan, Bank of America and the National Football League.
Emails Show Karp Reviewed Epstein Plea Defense And Exchanged Routine Messages
Justice Department documents show Karp reviewed a 2019 draft court filing arguing the decade-old non prosecution agreement should not be reopened, writing "The draft motion is in great shape. It's overwhelmingly persuasive. Truly."
Those emails show Epstein forwarded Karp's remarks to members of his personal legal team, including Kathy Ruemmler, Martin Weinberg and Darren Indyke, and that Weinberg later filed a motion in July 2019 making the non prosecution agreement argument.
The messages also contained references to other matters, such as Karp helping to find local counsel for Robert Kraft after his arrest and answering a call about John Havens, and they show Karp at times acting as a sounding board and intermediary for certain communications with Leon Black.
Paul Weiss has said it was adverse to Epstein and that at no point did Paul Weiss or Brad Karp ever represent him, and the firm attributed Karp's contacts with Epstein to work for Apollo Global Management boss Leon Black in a fee dispute.
Emails cited a legal precedent, U.S. v Fokker Services, in support of arguments that courts cannot reject non prosecution agreements simply because they disagree with the terms, and Karp noted he did not see a credible counter to those arguments.
