Brad Karp has relinquished his position as chairman of elite law firm Paul Weiss amid revelations contained within recently unsealed Department of Justice documents detailing his communications with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The disclosure, part of a comprehensive document release concerning the Epstein investigation, contains numerous email exchanges between the prominent attorney and the disgraced financier.
Among the correspondence is a 2016 email where Karp allegedly sought Epstein’s assistance in securing a film production role for his son with director Woody Allen. More significantly, a March 2019 email—sent just four months prior to Epstein’s arrest on sex trafficking charges—appears to show Karp commenting on legal documents related to Epstein’s 2008 plea agreement, stating ‘The draft motion is in great shape’ according to Bloomberg’s analysis of the correspondence.
In an official statement released Wednesday, Karp announced his resignation, noting that ‘Recent reporting has created a distraction and has placed focus on me that is not in the best interests of the firm.’ The statement notably omitted any direct reference to the Epstein documents. Paul Weiss simultaneously announced that corporate practice chair Scott Barshay would assume the chairman role, praising Karp’s ‘immense contributions’ over his four-decade tenure.
The law firm maintains that it never formally represented Epstein and previously stated that while Karp had known the financier, he ‘never witnessed or participated in any misconduct.’ According to the firm, their association consisted of ‘two group dinners in New York City and a small number of social interactions by email, all of which he regrets.’
Karp will remain with Paul Weiss as a practicing attorney, focusing exclusively on client services. His resignation concludes a turbulent period that included his negotiation of a $40 million pro bono legal services agreement with the Trump administration in exchange for the rescission of an executive order targeting the firm. The Epstein documents continue to reveal connections between the financier and numerous powerful figures across legal, financial, and political spheres.