In the immediate aftermath of the attacks Hamas launched on Israel last month, some law students and lawyers said some incredibly awful things and got penalized for it. An NYU Law student saw their future job yanked after writing that the attacks were 'necessary.' Firms rescinded offers to students for belonging to groups that signed a letter describing the attacks as a 'counter-offensive.' One lawyer went full Hitler.
Firms have a right to terminate employees for making controversial statements. And downplaying terrorism falls squarely in that zone! But it quickly became clear that some firm would eventually run into a more difficult fact pattern. Indeed, Davis Polk almost immediately opened the door to backtracking on its decision to cut ties with students who merely belonged to groups that signed a controversial letter.
In response to the Biglaw letter, Sidley attorney Melat Kiros drafted a lengthy piece critiquing the signatory firms for conflating antisemitism with geopolitical commentary.
[
add
]
[
|
|
...
]