Former Paul Weiss Chair Brad Karp Defends Settlement With Trump During Harvard Law School Class

Brad S. Karp, the former chairman of Paul Weiss, defended the firm’s settlement with the Trump administration during a Harvard Law School class on April 15, telling students he had to make a deal for the firm’s survival.

Karp — who stepped down in February after his emails with disgraced financier Jeffrey E. Epstein were made public — told students that Paul Weiss partners unanimously agreed to attempt a settlement because of concerns that other major firms would poach the firm’s clients and partners, according to two attendees, who were granted anonymity because of the school’s classroom non-attribution policy.

Before pursuing a settlement, Karp said he met with several other major law firms to discuss mounting a joint resistance to the Trump administration, according to the two people.

The effort was ultimately unsuccessful — at least eight firms struck similar deals with the administration, committing hundreds of millions of dollars in pro bono services collectively.

Karp said he had considered resigning from Paul Weiss’s leadership but stayed on at his wife’s urging, and argued that only firms that failed to settle had ended up in court with the administration, according to the attendees.

Karp spoke virtually as a guest in “Legal Professions,” a course taught by HLS professor Annette Gordon-Reed primarily for third-year law students and LL.M. candidates that frequently hosts prominent attorneys.

Guests scheduled this semester included former U.S. Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch ’81, former American Bar Association president Patricia L. Refo, and former NAACP Legal Defense Fund president Sherrilyn Ifill.

In March 2025, Trump issued an executive order that sought to suspend the security clearances of Paul Weiss attorneys and bar them from federal buildings. The order was part of a broader campaign against major law firms that had taken on pro bono cases challenging his first administration.

During the talk, Karp said a rival firm had inadvertently sent him an email signaling its plans to recruit Paul Weiss attorneys after Trump issued his executive order against the firm, per two attendees.

Karp also confirmed that New England Patriots majority owner Robert K. Kraft arranged a meeting between him and Trump during negotiations, the attendees said.

To resolve the conflict, Paul Weiss committed $40 million in pro bono legal services for initiatives approved by the administration, including efforts to combat antisemitism and support veterans. The firm also agreed to represent clients “across the political spectrum,” adopt meritocratic hiring practices, and retain outside experts to audit “its employment practices.”

The settlement drew sharp backlash and triggered a wave of high-profile departures from Paul Weiss. A group of partners left to start their own firm, and another partner joined a firm that chose to fight the administration in court.

A few minutes into the class, Karp said his phone was ringing because Harvard Provost John F. Manning ’82 was calling him, according to three attendees.

Spokespeople for the University did not respond to a request for comment.

Throughout the talk, one student projected a photo of Epstein on their laptop — positioning it within view of the camera on the Zoom call — in protest of Karp’s appearance.

In a classwide message the day before the talk, Gordon-Reed wrote that there were “no limits on questions save for questions involving his interactions with Epstein on behalf of firm clients” and asked students to resubmit questions if necessary.

Karp resigned as chairman of the firm in February after the Justice Department released emails in late January revealing correspondence between him and Epstein. The messages, dating from 2015 to 2019, showed Karp thanking Epstein for a dinner at his Manhattan mansion and asking Epstein to help his son land a job in a Woody Allen movie. In one 2019 exchange, Karp advised Epstein on a case involving women who had accused Epstein of abusing them while they were minors.

After the correspondence became public, Paul Weiss said Karp “attended two group dinners in New York City and had a small number of social interactions by email, all of which he regrets.”

Karp wrote in his resignation announcement from Paul Weiss that “recent reporting has created a distraction and has placed a focus on me that is not in the best interests of the firm.”

Karp’s relationship with Epstein extended beyond personal correspondence. He represented billionaire Leon D. Black, who paid Epstein roughly $170 million for tax and estate planning advice, according to the Senate Finance Committee.

Gordon-Reed stood by her decision to invite Karp to the class in a statement.

“Higher education, and particularly legal education, is about engaging with a wide range of people, arguments, and ideas,” she wrote. “I’m grateful to all the guest speakers in my classes who have been willing to take the time to share their real-world experiences and relay the valuable lessons they’ve learned in the practice of law.”

Jackson S. Faulkner, a third-year student in the class, said Karp’s continued ties to the Law School troubled him.

“I think Mr. Karp’s association with this University and its leadership from the highest levels is very difficult to square away with its stated values of egalitarianism and respect for all individuals,” Faulkner said. “Anyone who helps try to deport somebody on behalf of a private individual to cover the sexual abuse case, as the records in the Epstein files indicate, should cause anyone serious alarm.”

Spokespeople for HLS did not respond to a request for comment. Karp did not respond to a request for comment.

Karp received the Harvard Law School Association Award — the Law School’s highest alumni honor — in fall 2024 and currently serves on the advisory board of HLS’s Center on the Legal Profession.

“He’s an integral part of this institution, as evidenced by his alumni award, and he serves on a board for the legal profession,” Faulkner said. “He’s infinitely related to the institution, and that bothers me.”

“I’m shocked he has any association with the Law School,” he added.

—Staff writer Uy B. Pham can be reached at [email protected] or on Signal at ubp.88. Follow him on X @uybpham.

—Staff writer Sierra R. Pape can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X @SierraRPape.