After his name surfaced in email correspondence with sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, attorney Brad Karp resigned in February as the chairman of powerhouse corporate law firm Paul Weiss. But Karp, 66, remained with the firm as a senior partner, and the NFL continues to employ him as a lead attorney in two high-profile ongoing lawsuits, recent legal filings show.
One of three Paul Weiss lawyers who wrote the investigative report on Deflategate in 2015 and the league’s representative in myriad concussion-related lawsuits and settlements, Karp is among the lawyers who has represented the NFL since 2022 in its defense against Brian Flores’ racial discrimination lawsuit.
The league also retained Karp to fight a lawsuit brought by former NFL coach Jon Gruden, who sued the league and commissioner Roger Goodell, accusing them of destroying his career through a leak campaign, which is scheduled to be heard at trial in Nevada state court in May 2027.
Like many others removed from Epstein’s crimes, Karp engaged in social contact with him after his acts were known, potentially contributing to a laundering of his reputation. Following Epstein’s conviction and subsequent death by suicide while in jail, powerful institutions such as the NFL must determine what, if any, consequences such associates should face.
“It’s one of those things that’s lawful, but awful,” said Rep. Wesley Bell, D-Mo., a member of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, whose investigation into Epstein and his ties remains ongoing. “The NFL, considering the place they hold in our society – much less with kids – I think should be very sensitive to the people they associate with. Very questionable, I think.”
The NFL declined to comment through a spokesman.
Karp, who cited “recent reporting” that “created a distraction” when he resigned his chairmanship in February, declined to comment.
“Mr. Karp attended two group dinners in New York City and had a small number of social interactions by email, all of which he regrets,” Paul Weiss said in a statement in February, following the Justice Department’s release of a trove of documents related to Epstein.
Karp’s emails with Epstein, which trace from the mid-2010s through 2019, provide a window into a relationship that at times blurred between professional and social, an example of the favor-trading that allowed Epstein to amass currency among the elite.
Brad Karp has represented the NFL in numerous high-profile legal cases. (John Lamparski / Getty Images)
Karp developed a relationship with Epstein through Paul Weiss’ legal work for Leon Black, the co-founder of private equity giant Apollo Global Management, the firm’s largest client. Black paid Epstein $170 million in tax and estate planning fees, and Karp corresponded with Epstein about a dispute over those fees.
Most of their early exchanges concern the case, often banal scheduling attempts. (In one email, Karp cited the NFL owners’ meetings as a conflict.) But several emails seemingly went beyond Karp’s legal work.
In what UCLA legal ethics professor Scott Cummings considered “the most problematic aspect” of the Karp-Epstein emails, Karp and Epstein discussed how to handle a woman whom many reports later identified as Black’s mistress. In those emails, Karp and Epstein discussed surveillance methods. In one 2015 email, Epstein suggested Karp’s legal team discern the woman’s visa status and attempt to revoke it. “Both good ideas; will work on this,” Karp replied.
“This lack of transparency around potential representation, assisting Epstein on legal matters in cases where there was an insinuation that – the emails are ambiguous – but maybe using connections and leverage to create an outcome that might not have been warranted on the merits with respect to this deportation,” Cummings said. “That’s crossing into potential ethical concerns. …
“If I’m the NFL, it isn’t necessarily going to be disqualifying for me as a client given the totality of the circumstances. Lawyers sometimes make mistakes or do bad things that aren’t necessarily disqualifying. In terms of how we’re going to judge Karp’s behavior, the potential honesty issue is a real concern.”
The emails also show Karp sought Epstein’s help in landing Karp’s son a job on a movie directed by Woody Allen, a known Epstein associate. In 2016, eight years after Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor girl and registered as a sex offender, Karp attended a dinner at Epstein’s mansion in Manhattan.
“I can’t thank you enough for including me in an evening I’ll never forget,” Karp wrote the next morning. “It was truly ‘once in a lifetime’ in every way, though I hope to be invited again.”
After Epstein wrote to assure Karp he’d always be welcome, Karp replied, “You’re amazing….and thank you!”
In 2019, Epstein wrote to Karp that he should reach out if “your buddy Kraft” needed a local lawyer in Florida after Palm Beach County authorities, following a sting operation, charged Patriots owner Robert Kraft with two misdemeanor counts of first-degree solicitation for sex acts he received at a massage parlor.
Minutes later, Karp emailed Epstein for help with former Citigroup president John Havens, another associate implicated in the same sting.
“Who’s the best lawyer you can think of to help?” Karp wrote to Epstein. “He’s got about 30 mins before his name is released.”
Epstein replied minutes later, “They’re talking now.”
The charges against both Kraft and Havens ultimately were dropped.
Cummings said “it wouldn’t be unreasonable” for the NFL to conclude that continuing to employ Karp is worth it, given their longstanding working relationship. In legal circles, Cummings said, Karp has a reputation for his business acumen and forging strong relationships with clients.
“That’s an uncomfortable conversation, but one someone like Brad Karp would obviously be quite familiar with as a leader at one of the country’s premier firms, who knows the way that the system works and who knows what it takes to recruit and retain clients,” Cummings said. “It’s not just about expertise.”
Karp is not alone among powerful people associated with the NFL who have been ensnared by the public release of Epstein-related documents, and his exchanges are far from the most egregious. Emails showed Epstein scouted women for New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch on several occasions.
During his annual news conference at the Super Bowl in February, Goodell said the NFL would “look at all the facts” before determining if it would investigate Tisch’s association with Epstein.
Tisch and his siblings, Laurie and Jonathan, since have requested to transfer their ownership stake in the Giants to their children, which Goodell described Tuesday at the NFL owners’ meetings as “part of their estate planning.” Footage broadcast during the NFL Draft showed Tisch front and center in the Giants’ draft room, applauding picks next to the team’s top decision-makers. On the Giants’ web site, Tisch is still listed as an executive vice president and chairman of the board.
“You’ll have to talk to the Giants about that,” Goodell said when asked about Tisch’s role.
“Organizations like the NFL that hold the type of place in our society that impacts and influences all parts of our society do have a higher responsibility,” said Bell, who introduced the EPSTEIN Act calling for an independent commission to oversee the Epstein investigation. “There are a lot of attorneys. They got a lot of options of folks they can use that don’t have ties to one of the largest sex trafficking operations in the world potentially. The NFL needs to re-assess, re-evaluate and really be sensitive to who they’re associating themselves with, because the world is watching.”