Biglaw Firm Joins Hotline For Victims Of Campus Antisemitic Harassment

// Last week, a number of Biglaw firms signed onto a letter lamenting the rise in antisemitic harassment on law school campuses and committing to doing absolutely nothing about it. But they did go out of their way to point fingers at law school deans to do something about it, preferring to leave the hard work of separating controversial but fair political commentary about Israel from antisemitism masquerading under the headlines to the administrations already struggling with exactly that task.

There were firms signing this letter that advertise about their work with states that don’t even recognize Israel’s right to exist. Some of these firms have offices in countries that deny Israel’s legitimacy. Which is probably why they prefer low commitment PR stunts to taking any action that might hit them in the pocketbook.

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Bottom line: firms should commit to doing something tangible with the massive financial and in-kind resources they can bring to bear and dig into the sometimes messy details if they want to make a difference.

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And some law firms are doing just that.

Gibson Dunn has partnered with Hillel International, ADL, and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law to announce the Campus Antisemitism Legal Line (CALL), offering folks on campus a free legal helpline.

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Any student, family, faculty, or staff member can go to the CALL website or text “CALLhelp” to 51555 to report incidents of antisemitic discrimination, intimidation, harassment, vandalism, or violence that may necessitate legal action. Lawyers will assess reports of antisemitic discrimination and hate, conduct in-depth information-gathering interviews, and provide pro bono representation for victims who choose to move forward with specific cases. CALL will also provide referrals to social services, mental health counseling services, and other relevant support services in their area.

In addition to Gibson Dunn’s partnership, the helpline will draw upon pro bono resources from Morgan Lewis and other firms not specifically identified in the press release.

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Antisemitism is not limited to campus, but students and schools both have limited resources to deliver justice. “Poor student” is a stereotype for a reason and schools meting out punishments face due process challenges and ultimately can’t deliver much more than kicking someone out of school. Lawyers can certainly assist students in dealing with the school’s internal system… but torts and criminal law can accomplish a lot more if available under the circumstances.

“Since the brutal terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7, there has been an alarming rise in antisemitism and hate directed toward Jewish college students,” said Adam Lehman, Hillel International President and CEO. “Alongside building flourishing Jewish campus communities and educating university presidents and leadership, this is an important tool for reducing campus antisemitism. Every student deserves to pursue their studies and live their full college experience in a safe and secure campus environment — and Jewish students are no exception.”

In addition to providing legal services to victims of harassment, involving trained attorneys in the process of “conduct[ing] in-depth information-gathering interviews” to assess incidents has the knock-on effect of resolving the above-referenced “messy” borderline cases in a way that leaving it to hamstrung administrations can’t.

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For example, multiple tipsters reached out asking us why we hadn’t covered a story summarized as “Harvard Law student caught on camera assaulting Jewish student.” The key outlet hyping that story was the Washington Free Beacon, which is something of a red flag for anyone with basic media savvy. So it wasn’t much of a shock when more video of the incident came out showing the “victim” stepping over protesters before setting up the picture-perfect video clip. Not exactly a clean hands scenario.

Bad faith opportunists only exacerbate campus harassment. Their stunts artificially heighten fear among Jewish students — which then becomes a secondary vector for feeling vulnerable and insecure — and condition anti-war protesters to discount or even ignore the legitimate harassment and intimidation happening around them. Biglaw investigations can suss these cases out in a way that the “rule of social media” can’t.

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Gibson Dunn, Morgan Lewis, and all the other Biglaw pro bono attorneys lending talent to this effort lend gravitas and muscle to this cause, providing guidance for students seeking redress for attacks through whatever forum necessary.

It’s an encouraging postscript to last week’s letter. Hopefully every signatory to that document will direct resources to this effort. We’ll see.

Earlier: Biglaw Firms Tell Law Schools To ‘Pls Hndle Thx’ Antisemitism

Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

Topics

ADL, Biglaw, Gibson Dunn, Law Schools, Morgan Lewis