Brandeis Center launches antisemitism litigation group advised by corporate, constitutional law partners
Brandeis Center founder and chairman Kenneth Marcus said the new group, called the Center for Legal Innovation, will hire lawyers and partner with outside law firms in a broad litigation push against antisemitism.
"We needed to have a center that can develop novel theories of the law to use, and we would need to have people who can coordinate with outside law firms, but also conduct those cases in-house," Marcus said.
The new group's advisory board includes top lawyers at large corporate law firms including Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and Weil, Gotshal & Manges, and smaller conservative law firms such as Consovoy McCarthy and Schaerr Jaffe, as well as former government officials and others.
In launching the group, the Brandeis Center wants to "simultaneously raise our game in public policy while also pursuing an ambitious docket of lawsuits in state and federal courts," Marcus said.
The Brandeis Center is a Washington-based non-profit that advocates for the civil and human rights of Jewish people. The new litigation group has five lawyers and staff and aims to have close to 20, Marcus said.
Israel's military assault on Gaza after Hamas' Oct. 2023 attack on Israel has led to a rise in reports of antisemitism in the United States and widespread pro-Palestinian protests on U.S. college campuses. The U.S. Justice Department said on Monday it formed a multi-agency task force to fight antisemitism in schools and universities.
Harvard University last month settled allegations from the Brandeis Center and others that it selectively enforced its anti-discrimination policies, and hired professors who promoted anti-Jewish violence and spread antisemitic propaganda. Harvard denied any wrongdoing.
Jonathan Polkes, a co-chair of Weil's litigation department who represented the Brandeis Center in the Harvard lawsuit, is a member of the new center's advisory board and said he expects to work on cases for the group.
Other members of the advisory group include Bill Barr, who was U.S. Attorney General for part of President Donald Trump's first term, former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement, and Paul, Weiss chairman Brad Karp. They did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
"The rising tide of anti-semitism on campuses and beyond needs to be reversed and redressed both in court and in the broader society," Clement said in an email.
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