Pursuing Justice Podcast Episode 8: As soon as it became clear that COVID-19 was going to have a major impact on the United States, Brad Karp, Chairman of the law firm Paul, Weiss, started thinking about how he could help people get through what was coming. From the firm's headquarters in New York City, Brad emailed 1,000 Paul, Weiss lawyers to ask one simple question, "Who wants to work on a pro bono project to help people and small businesses affected by COVID-19?"
Brad and his colleagues, Robert Atkins and Jean McLoughlin, discuss what happened next with host Alicia Aiken.
This podcast provides a behind-the-scenes exploration of pro bono and public interest legal work. These heartening stories are told from both clients’ and lawyers’ perspectives to showcase intimate portraits of lawyers helping those with limited access to justice.
Please note: CLE is not offered for listening to this podcast, and the views and opinions expressed within represent those of the speakers and not necessarily those of PLI.
FEATURED IN THIS EPISODE
Brad S. Karp
Chairman of Paul, Weiss since 2008, Brad Karp is one of the country’s leading litigators and corporate advisers. Brad has successfully guided numerous Fortune 100 companies, global financial institutions and other companies through “bet the company” litigations, regulatory matters and internal investigations. Prior to being named chairman, Brad led the firm’s Litigation Department. Brad speaks and writes frequently on business litigation, securities litigation and corporate governance; he has spoken at more than 600 conferences and has lectured at Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, Columbia Law School, NYU Law School and The Federal Judicial Center, and has written more than 500 articles on business litigation and corporate governance issues.
Brad is active in the community, serving on more than 25 public interest and educational institution boards. He also frequently speaks out and writes about pressing issues of social justice. Most recently, in March, he wrote an op-ed in The American Lawyer, “The Legal Community Must Protect Workers and Small Businesses From Coronavirus Fallout.” In 2018, Brad authored two op-eds in The New York Times, “Stop Shielding Gun Makers,” advocating changes to gun manufacturer liability laws, and “An Army of Lawyers for Migrants,” urging the private bar to address the unlawful treatment of immigrants and to seek the reunification of separated families. Brad has received more than a dozen recognitions for his pro bono accomplishments and charitable service.
Jean M. McLoughlin
Jean McLoughlin is a partner in Paul, Weiss’s Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits Group. She advises a wide range of corporate, financial, and individual clients and compensation committees on all aspects of executive compensation, employee benefits and governance matters. Jean frequently speaks on topics of employee benefits and executive compensation, including a PLI panel last year on “Hot Issues in Executive Compensation 2019.” She is co-chair of the "Forum on Executive Compensation." Jean has been recognized as one of the leading employee benefits and executive compensation lawyers in America by Chambers USA, The Best Lawyers in America and Super Lawyers. She received her J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School, where she served on the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review and was a member of the Board of Student Advisors.
Jean has also been a member of the YWCA Academy of Women Leaders, an organization which recognizes women for leadership, achievements in their fields and contributions to the success of other women. She had also been actively involved with the Young Survival Coalition, an organization which focuses on supporting young breast cancer survivors on the unique issues they face in treatment and survivorship.
Robert A. Atkins
A litigator at Paul, Weiss for 30 years, Bob Atkins is Co-Chair of the Litigation Department, the Chairman of the firm’s legal ethics committee and a former member of the firm’s Management Committee. He has tried cases in state and federal courts, including an antitrust and false advertising trial in the Eastern District of Texas that won Bob recognition as The American Lawyer’s “Litigator of the Week.” Bob also has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the “Best Lawyers” in the U.S. in Antitrust Litigation. In addition to his commercial practice, Bob regularly litigates voting rights cases and Constitutional challenges to voter registration and identification laws. Bob serves as the Co-Chair of the Board of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law.
