NY Times: Big Law Firms Warn T14 Law Schools About Antisemitism

New York Times, Law Firms Warn Universities About Antisemitism on Campus:

Two dozen major Wall Street firms sent a letter to top law schools to crack down on discrimination and harassment amid an escalation in incidents targeting Jewish students.

With universities across the United States grappling with a rise in antisemitism since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, elite law firms are putting schools on notice. In a letter to some of the nation’s top law schools obtained by DealBook, about two dozen major Wall Street firms warned that what happens on campus could have corporate consequences.

“We look to you to ensure your students who hope to join our firms after graduation are prepared to be an active part of workplace communities that have zero tolerance policies for any form of discrimination or harassment, much less the kind that has been taking place on some law school campuses,” the firms wrote.

Among the firms that signed the letter are:

• Cravath, Swaine & Moore
• Debevoise & Plimpton
• Kirkland & Ellis
• Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
• Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
• Skadden
• Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz

Another signatory, Davis Polk & Wardwell, last month rescinded job offers over letters blaming Israel for the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. ...

Big Law carries huge clout. Students at the schools that received the letter — 14 top institutions, along with others that have strong ties with the signatories — compete aggressively for jobs at the firms after graduation. And deans keep a close eye on job placement statistics.

School officials “were late to getting that Jewish students are actually scared — they feel threatened, and they feel betrayed,” Joe Shenker, the senior chair of Sullivan & Cromwell who spearheaded the letter, told DealBook.

November 1, 2023

Dear Deans,
Everyone at our law firms is entitled to be treated with respect and be free of any conduct that targets their identity and is offensive, hostile, intimidating or inconsistent with their personal dignity and rights. We prohibit any form of harassment, whether verbal, visual or physical.

Over the last several weeks, we have been alarmed at reports of anti-Semitic harassment, vandalism and assaults on college campuses, including rallies calling for the death of Jews and the elimination of the State of Israel. Such anti-Semitic activities would not be tolerated at any of our firms. We also would not tolerate outside groups engaging in acts of harassment and threats of violence, as has also been occurring on many of your campuses.

As educators at institutions of higher learning, it is imperative that you provide your students with the tools and guidance to engage in the free exchange of ideas, even on emotionally charged issues, in a manner that affirms the values we all hold dear and rejects unreservedly that which is antithetical to those values. There is no room for anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, racism or any other form of violence, hatred or bigotry on your campuses, in our workplaces or our communities.

As employers who recruit from each of your law schools, we look to you to ensure your students who hope to join our firms after graduation are prepared to be an active part of workplace communities that have zero tolerance policies for any form of discrimination or harassment, much less the kind that has been taking place on some law school campuses.

We trust you will take the same unequivocal stance against such activities as we do, and we look forward to a respectful dialogue with you to understand how you are addressing with urgency this serious situation at your law schools.

Very truly yours,
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
Cooley LLP
Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP
Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Latham & Watkins LLP
McDermott Will & Emery LLP
Milbank LLP
Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
O'Melveny & Myers LLP
Paul Hastings LLP
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
Proskauer Rose LLP
Ropes & Gray LLP
Schulte Roth + Zabel LLP
Sidley Austin LLP
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen, and Katz
Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP

• ABA Journal, BigLaw Firms Ask Law School Deans to Respond to Antisemitism in Campus Protests
• American Lawyer, Big Law Firms Call on Top Law Schools to Condemn Anti-Israel Protests, Harassment
• Business Insider, Bill Ackman Says It's 'Pathetic' That Law Firms and Other Corporations Feel They Have to 'Police' Antisemitism on University Campuses
• New York Sun, Major Law Firms, in Open Letter, Beseech Law Schools To Rein in Antisemitism Among Students
• Reuters, Major Law Firms Call on Law Schools to Condemn 'Antisemitism, Islamophobia'