Leading Law Firms and General Counsel Unite to Condemn State Voter Suppression Laws

Leaders of scores of major law firms, plus general counsel representing many of the leading U.S. companies, have joined together to forcefully denounce restrictive voting provisions introduced by state lawmakers.

The effort, spearheaded by Brad S. Karp, Chairman of Paul, Weiss, and Lucy Fato, Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Global Head of Communications and Government Affairs of AIG, has continued to attract new signatories since it was first made public on April 12. The law firm leaders and general counsel join a growing chorus of U.S. corporate executives in taking a strong, unequivocal stand against laws in 47 states that would make it more difficult for people to vote. It also follows an April 1 op-ed in The American Lawyer by Brad and partner Robert A. Atkins, co-chair of the Brennan Center for Justice, calling on lawyers to unite against renewed efforts to undermine the vote, such as the legislation recently signed into law in Georgia.

Statement Denouncing Voter Disenfranchisement

“Equal access to voting is a fundamental right in the United States. Making voting easier, not harder, for all eligible voters should be the goal of every elected official. Election laws that impose unnecessary obstacles and barriers on the right to vote and that disenfranchise underrepresented groups represent a significant step backwards for all Americans. Now, more than ever, courageous leadership is required from our elected officials. We, the undersigned law firm managing partners and general counsel, denounce all efforts to restrict the constitutional right of every eligible American to vote and to participate in our democracy.”

» Please contact Chief Marketing Officer Luke Ferrandino, lferrandino@paulweiss.com, if you're interested in signing on to the statement.

Signatories

Leaders of the following law firms have joined the statement:

• Akerman LLP — Scott A. Meyers, Chairman and CEO
• Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP — Kim Koopersmith, Chairperson
• Alston & Bird LLP — Richard. R. Hays, Chairman and Managing Partner
• Arent Fox LLP - Cristina A. Carvalho, Firmwide Managing Partner
• Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP — Richard M. Alexander, Chairman
• The Axelrod Firm PC — Sheryl L. Axelrod, President and CEO
• Baker & McKenzie LLP — Colin Murray, Chief Executive Officer, North America
• Baker Botts LLP — John W. Martin, Managing Partner
• Ballard Spahr LLP — Mark S. Stewart, Chair
• Boies Schiller Flexner LLP — David Boies, Chairman and Managing Partner; and Alan Vickery, Managing Partner
• Brown Rudnick LLP — Bill Baldiga, Chairman and CEO 
• BrownGreer PLC — Lynn Crowder Greer, Chairman; and Orran L. Brown, Sr., Chairman
• Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner — Lisa Mayhew, Co-Chair of Firm; and Steven M. Baumer, Co-Chair of Firm
• Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP — Patrick T. Quinn, Managing Partner
• Cahill Gordon & Reindel — William M. Hartnett, Chairman of Executive Committee
• Clark Hill PLC — John P. Hensien, Chief Executive Officer
• Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP — Michael A. Gerstenzang, Managing Partner
• Cooley LLP — Joe Conroy, Chairman and CEO
• Covington & Burling LLP — Douglas G. Gibson, Chair of Management Committee
• Cozen O'Connor P.C. — Michael J. Heller, Executive Chairman and CEO
• Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP — Faiza J. Saeed, Presiding Partner; and Evan R. Chesler, Chairman
• Crowell & Moring LLP — Philip T. Inglima, Chair, Management Board
• Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP — Neil Barr, Managing Partner
• Davis Wright Tremaine LLP — Jeffrey P. Gray, Firmwide Managing Partner; and Scott W. MacCormack, Firmwide Managing Partner
• Debevoise & Plimpton LLP — Michael W. Blair, Presiding Partner; and Mary Jo White, Senior Chair
• Dechert LLP — Andrew J. Levander, Chair of Policy Committee
• Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP — Mark D. Wasserman, Co-Chief Executive Officer
• Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP — Tom Froehle, Co-Chair
• Fenwick & West LLP — Richard L. Dickson, Firmwide Chair; and Rodger R. Cole, Firmwide Managing Partner
• Fish & Richardson P.C. — John C. Adkisson, Principal, President and CEO
• Foley Hoag LLP — Kenneth S. Leonetti, Co-Managing Partner
• Fox Rothschild LLP — Mark L. Morris, Firmwide Managing Partner
• Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP — Georgia Dawson, Chair; and Alan Mason, Managing Partner
• Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP — David J. Greenwald, Chairman
• Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP — Kenneth M. Doran, Chairman and Managing Partner
• Goodwin Procter LLP — Robert S. Insolia, Chairman
• Goulston & Storrs — Martin M. Fantozzi, Co-Managing Director; and William H. Dillon, Co-Managing Director
• Hanson Bridgett — Kristina Lawson, Managing Partner 
• Haynes and Boone, LLP — Taylor H. Wilson, Managing Partner
• Hogan Lovells US LLP — Miguel Zaldivar, Chief Executive Officer
• Holland & Knight LLP — Steven Sonberg, Managing Partner
• Jenner & Block LLP — Katya Jestin, Co-Managing Partner; and Randall E. Mehrberg, Co-Managing Partner
• Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP — Noah S. Heller, Chief Executive Officer
• Kelley Drye & Warren LLP — Dana Rosenfeld, Managing Partner; and Jim Carr, Chair
• Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP — J. Henry Walker IV, Chair and Chief Executive Officer
• King & Spalding LLP — Robert D. Hays, Chairman
• Kirkland & Ellis LLP — Jon A. Ballis P.C.,Chairman
• Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP — Paul H. Schoeman, Co-Managing Partner; and Howard T. Spilko, Co-Managing Partner
• Latham & Watkins LLP — Richard M. Trobman, Chair and Managing Partner
• Locke Lord LLP — David Taylor, Chair
• Loeb & Loeb LLP —  Kenneth R. Florin, Chairman
• Mayer Brown LLP — Paul W. Theiss, Chairman
• McDermott Will & Emery — Ira J. Coleman, Chairman
• McGuireWoods LLP — J. Tracy Walker IV, Managing Partner
• Milbank LLP — Scott A. Edelman, Chairman; and David J. Wolfson, Executive Director
• Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. — Robert I. Bodian, Managing Partner
• Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP — Jami McKeon, Chair
• Morrison & Foerster LLP — Tessa J. Schwartz, Managing Partner; and Craig D. Martin, Managing Partner
• Nixon Peabody LLP — Stephen D. Zubiago, CEO and Managing Partner
• Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP — Jeff Cody, Managing Partner; Shauna Clark, Global Chair and US Chair; and Gina N. Shishima, Chief Strategy and Operations Partner
• O'Melveny & Myers LLP — Bradley J. Butwin, Chairman
• Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP — Mitchell Zuklie, Chairman and CEO
• Paul Hastings LLP — Seth Zachary, Chairman
• Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP — Brad S. Karp, Chairman
• Perkins Coie LLP — William G. Malley, Firmwide Managing Partner
• Proskauer Rose LLP — Steven M. Ellis, Chairman; and Daryn A. Grossman, Managing Partner
• Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP — John B. Quinn, Founder; and Christopher Tayback, Managing Partner, Los Angeles Office
• Reed Smith LLP — Alexander “Sandy” Thomas, Global Managing Partner
• Ropes & Gray LLP — Julie H. Jones, Chair
• Sanford Heisler Sharp, LLP — David Sanford, Chairman
• Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP — David J. Efron, Co-Managing Partner; and Marc E. Elovitz, Co-Managing Partner
• Selendy & Gay PLLC — Faith Gay, Founding Partner
• Seyfarth Shaw LLP — Peter C. Miller, Chairman and Managing Partner
• Shearman & Sterling — David Beveridge, Senior Partner; Adam Hakki, Global Managing Partner; and George Casey, Global Managing Partner
• Sheppard Mullin — Guy Halgren, Chairman
• Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP — Madeleine M. McDonough, Chair
• Sidley Austin LLP — Michael J. Schmidtberger, Chair of Firm Executive Committee
• Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP — William R. Dougherty, Chairman of Firm Executive Committee
• Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP — Eric J. Friedman, Executive Partner
• Squire Patton Boggs — Frederick R. Nance, Global Managing Partner
• Steptoe & Johnson LLP — Philip R. West, Chair
• Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP — Jeffrey R. Keitelman, Co-Managing Partner; and Alan M. Klinger, Co-Managing Partner
• Sullivan & Cromwell LLP — Joseph C. Shenker, Chair
• Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP — Stephen E. Lewis, Chair; and Thomas J. Cole, Jr., Managing Partner
• Venable LLP — Stuart P. Ingis, Chairman; Daniel P. Moylan, Co-Managing Partner; and Lawrence H. Gesner, Co-Managing Partner
• Vinson & Elkins LLP — Scott N. Wulfe, Managing Partner; and T. Mark Kelly, Chairman
• Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz — Daniel A. Neff, Co-Chairman of Executive Committee; and Edward D. Herlihy, Co-Chairman of Executive Committee
• Walden Macht & Haran LLP — Jim Walden, Managing Partner
• Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP — Barry M. Wolf, Executive Partner and Chair of Firm’s Management Committee
• White & Case LLP — Hugh Verrier, Chairman
• Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP — Matthew A. Feldman, Chairman; Thomas M. Cerabino, Chairman; and Kenneth O'Connor, Chief Operating Officer
• Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP — Robert T. Novick, Co-Managing Partner
• Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati — Douglas J. Clark, Managing Partner
• Winston & Strawn LLP — Thomas P. Fitzgerald, Chairman
• Withers Bergman LLP — Michael Brophy, Partner, Co-lead of US Diversity & Inclusion Committee
• Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP  — Betty Temple, Chair and CEO

Leading in-house counsel of the following companies have joined the statement:

• Accenture — Joel Unruch, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
• AIG — Lucy Fato, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Global Head of Communications and Government Affairs
• Bristol Myers Squibb Company — Sandra Leung, Executive Vice President and General Counsel
• Centerbridge Partners, LP — Susanne Clark, General Counsel and Senior Managing Director
• Chan Zuckerberg Initiative — Erika Rottenberg, General Counsel
• Chanel — Sarah Francois-Poncet, former General Counsel
• Chobani LLC — Kathleen Leo, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel
• Discover — Wanji Walcott, Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel
• DTE Energy — JoAnn Chávez, Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer
• Equitable Holdings, Inc. — Jose Ramon Gonzalez, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary
• Etsy — Jill Simeone, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary
• Exelixis, Inc.— Jeffrey Hessekiel, Executive Vice President and General Counsel
• FactSet — Rachel Stern, Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Global Head of Strategic Resources
• IHS Markit — Sari Granat, Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel
• Lincoln Financial Group — Craig T. Beazer, General Counsel
• Macy’s Inc. — Elisa D. Garcia, Chief Legal Officer
• Poly — Lisa Bodensteiner, Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Chief Compliance Officer
• Prudential Financial — Ann Kappler, Executive Vice President and General Counsel
• Sixth Street — Joshua Peck, General Counsel
• Sony Music Entertainment — Julie Swidler. Executive Vice President, Business Affairs and General Counsel
• Starbucks — Rachel Gonzalez, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
• The New York Public Library — Michele Coleman Mayes, Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
• TIAA — Phillip Rollock, Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer
• Tokio Marine North America Inc. — Caryn Angelson, Chief Legal Officer
• ViacomCBS Inc. — Christa D’Alimonte, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
• Zuora, Inc. — Jennifer Pileggi, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary