The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law announced on Thursday that it will establish a team of nearly 20 lawyers and legal staff to focus on litigating cases of antisemitism. This initiative will be supported by external counsel from prominent national law firms.
The new legal group, called the Center for Legal Innovation (CLI), will use the law to fight all forms of antisemitism in areas such as workplaces, housing, healthcare, public accommodations, government services, unions, academia, and corporations. CLI will operate from the Brandeis Center’s newly opened office in New York, with the Washington, D.C.-based center also having a satellite office in Los Angeles.
Following the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S. have sharply increased. The FBI’s September data revealed a 63% rise in anti-Jewish hate crimes in 2023, despite Jews representing just 2% of the U.S. population. Anti-Jewish hate crimes made up 15% of all hate crimes and 68% of all religion-based hate crimes. According to the ADL, there were 8,873 anti-Semitic incidents in 2023, a 140% increase from 2022, marking the highest total since the ADL began tracking. Since October 7, the Brandeis Center has experienced a tenfold increase in requests for legal assistance regarding campus issues.
Kenneth L. Marcus, founder and chairman of the Brandeis Center, emphasized the need for a public interest law firm to tackle litigation beyond education-focused Title VI complaints, addressing broader areas of discrimination and harassment against Jews. He stated, “We will use the law against those threatening Jewish people’s constitutional rights.”
CLI will expand the Brandeis Center’s civil rights litigation efforts, which have already seen success in cases against institutions like Harvard University, as well as companies such as Ben & Jerry’s, which was challenged for its support of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Other divisions of the Brandeis Center will work on educating law enforcement and prosecutors to better recognize anti-Semitic activities.
One of CLI’s first cases involves a disturbing incident at an Oakland café, where a Jewish father and his 5-year-old son were asked to leave for wearing a Star of David hat. The café owner claimed the hat was “violent” and called the police. This has sparked outrage among local leaders, including Senator Adam Schiff, who condemned the act as blatant antisemitism. CLI is representing the father and son in this case.
The following individuals are serving on the Advisory Board of the Center for Legal Innovation (CLI):
- Bill Barr: 77th U.S. Attorney General under President George H. W. Bush and 85th U.S. Attorney General under President Donald Trump.
- Paul Clement: 43rd U.S. Solicitor General.
- Davida Brook: Renowned litigator who secured the historic $787.5 million settlement for Dominion Voting Systems in its defamation lawsuit against Fox News and is currently representing the New York Times in its case against Microsoft and OpenAI.
- Rona Kaufman: Professor at Thomas R. Kline Law School, Duquesne University.
- Alan Levine: President of the Legal Aid Society of New York, chair of the Jewish Theological Seminary Board of Trustees, and senior counsel at Cooley LLP, specializing in complex civil cases. He served as lead counsel in the case against the white supremacist organizers of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville.
- Thomas McCarthy: Head of Consovoy McCarthy PLLC, specializing in constitutional law, civil rights disputes, and enforcement of federal statutes.
- Jonathan Polkes: Former federal prosecutor and co-chair of Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP’s global litigation department.
- Jason Torchinsky: Partner at Holtzman Vogel, with expertise in First Amendment freedoms.
- Erik Jaffe: Partner at Schaerr Jaffe LLP, involved in over 150 Supreme Court matters.
- Brad Karp: Chairman of Paul, Weiss, specializing in complex civil and corporate litigation.
- David Perla: Vice Chair of Burford Capital, a prominent figure in litigation finance.
