Paul Weiss Partners Turned on Brad Karp After Learning Extent of His Epstein Ties

Mr. Karp resigned as chairman of Paul Weiss after senior partners met to decide his future. His name had surfaced in documents from the Justice Department’s trove on Jeffrey Epstein, which at first did not alarm many partners because Mr. Karp had long represented Leon Black.

As more material emerged, however, partners concluded that Mr. Karp’s relationship with Epstein was deeper than they had thought. One 2019 email showed Mr. Karp offering legal advice to Epstein about a plea deal, even though Epstein was not a Paul Weiss client.

In a March 3, 2019, message Mr. Karp wrote, “The draft motion is in great shape. It’s overwhelmingly persuasive. Truly,” and added that he “particularly liked the argument that the ‘victims’ lied in wait and sat on their rights for their strategic advantage, knowing you were in prison, before they came forward.” Other messages included Epstein suggesting that Mr.