Starting over is ‘invigorating’ for former BigLaw co-chair convicted in college admissions scandal

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Criminal Justice Starting over is 'invigorating' for former BigLaw co-chair convicted in college admissions scandal

By Debra Cassens Weiss

March 4, 2022, 9:12 am CST

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Gordon Caplan arrives at federal court in October 2019 in Boston for sentencing in a nationwide college admissions bribery scandal. Photo by Steven Senne/The Associated Press.

The former BigLaw partner who served prison time in the 2019 college admissions scandal is starting over with his business consulting company and a reinstated law license.

Gordon Caplan, the former co-chair of Willkie Farr & Gallagher, spoke with Law360 about how his life has changed since prosecutors accused him of paying $75,000 to a college admissions consultant in the bribery scandal.

He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud in May 2019 and was sentenced to a month in prison in October 2019. His law license was suspended for two years.

Caplan told Law360 that starting over is “invigorating.” He oversees Dutchess Management, a business consulting company with 10 employees initially created to oversee his family’s investment. The company helps businesses that are “evolving or going through transitions,” Caplan said.

The company has also gotten involved in prison condition and reentry projects, Caplan told Law360.

“It’s not what I hoped for,” Caplan said of his life after prison. “But what I always loved about what I did was building, and now I’m building again in a different way.”

Caplan wasn’t as optimistic after he was accused in the bribery scandal in March 2019.

“As soon as I was arrested, I knew my life had changed dramatically. And to be direct, for a good portion thereafter, I didn’t think I would survive. I didn’t think I wanted to survive, to live,” Caplan told Law360. “But once I decided to live, then it was about just moving forward through my own created, very difficult situation. That’s what I’ve been doing since, one day at a time.”

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