The Leader of Major U.S. Law Firm Was An Informal Epstein Advisor
After being unmasked, Brad Karp stepped down as chairperson of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, but he remains a partner, raising questions about the culture of large law firms.
Imagine the chairperson of a top law firm was a secret advisor and friend to perhaps the most notorious misogynist and pedophile in history, Jeffrey Epstein.
Now imagine that the word got out about this guy — Brad Karp — and he stepped down as chairperson, supposedly to avoid being a distraction for the firm. But he remains a partner there.
It’s only hard to imagine this scenario if the law is considered malleable, ethics are suggestions, and a sense of entitlement prevails in Big Law due to power and money. This, alas, appears to be the case.
And don’t hold your breath waiting for outcry from female partners at the firm, including Loretta Lynch, who was U.S. Attorney General during the Democratic administration of President Barack Obama. Too much at stake.
The firm, which has offices on three continents, employs more than 1,200 attorneys and a thousand support staff.
The National Law Journal’s 2025 Global 200 survey ranked Paul Weiss as the 19th highest grossing law firm IN THE WORLD.
Numerous emails between Karp and Epstein from 2015 to 2019 show Karp thanking Epstein —a convicted sex offender — for dinner invitations. Karp described one dinner hosted by Epstein as “once in a lifetime;” event.
Karp also asked Epstein for favors, including helping Karp’s son get a job on a Woody Allen film production.
Other emails showed Karp sharing documents or discussing topics like stock sales, surveillance of individuals, and sex scandals involving figures such as Harvey Weinstein or Charlie Rose.
Most importantly, however, Karp provided Epstein legal advice. The firm maintains neither it nor Karp formally represented Epstein. Apparently, that means that Epstein didn’t pay Karp, who apparently did it out of the goodness of his heart.
In 2008, Epstein entered into an outrageously lenient and secret plea deal on sex trafficking-related charges. Epstein pleaded guilty to solicitation of prostitution and procuring a person under 16 for prostitution. The deal became highly controversial a decade later when The Miami Herald’s “Perversion of Justice” series interviewed more than 60 alleged victims who were never notified about the plea deal. They argued the deal violated their rights under the Crime Victims’ Rights Act and sought to challenge it.
In a March 3, 2019, email, Karp provided feedback — a.ka. , legal advice — about a draft motion prepared by Epstein’s lawyers to protect the plea deal from being reopened or challenged.
“The draft motion is in great shape. It’s overwhelmingly persuasive. Truly. I 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,” Karp wrote.
He then gave Epstein a helpful case law citation (U.S. v. Fokker Services) to argue that courts couldn’t easily reject non-prosecution agreements. “Wish there was a different case name than ‘Fokker,’ but we can’t have everything. In all seriousness, I don’t see a credible counter to our arguments. The case law is totally stacked in favor of our position,” wrote Karp. (Note the use of the term “our arguments.”)
Epstein was arrested on July 6, 2019, and charged with exploiting dozens of underage girls between 2002 and 2005 in New York and Florida. Two months later, while in a New York City jail awaiting trial, Epstein is alleged to have committed suicide.
Supposedly, Karp was connected to Epstein through Karp’s representation of Leon Black, a longtime Paul Weiss client who co-founded Apollo Global Management. Black hired Epstein to provide tax advice, and then disputed Epstein’s fees. Karp helped negotiate the disputes.
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison served as outside legal counsel to Black.
Of course, Black was deeply involved with Epstein, whom he paid at least $158 million for tax advice, despite Epstein lacking special expertise. There are lingering questions about whether Black used Epstein to launder money.
A supposedly independent review by a law firm, Dechert LLP, concluded there was no evidence that Black participated in Epstein’s crimes. Black stepped down as Apollo CEO/Chairman in 2021. It is estimated he still owes 6-7% of the company’s shares.
The bottom line is that Brad Karp was a friend and ally of Epstein, who provided him with legal advice to help enforce a 2008 plea agreement that perverted justice for dozens of minor girls who were sexually abused.
Allowing him to resign as chairperson of Paul Weiss — a position he had held since 2008— and remain a partner at the firm is somewhat reminiscent of the lenient plea agreement that Epstein got in 2008. It falls very short of the appropriate response.