The Biglaw Files: How Power And Privilege Harm The Legal Profession

This past weekend, I was plagued by two different jarring stories of Biglaw lawyers that hit social media: the abuse and unyielding rage of Allan Kassenoff from Greenberg Traurig that led to the planned suicide of his wife Catherine Kassenoff, and the vitriolic antisemitic, racist, and misogynistic language spewed by Jeff Ranen and John Barber of Barber Ranen (formed by 140-plus lawyers who departed from Lewis Brisbois at the beginning of May 2023). Both of these incidents are full of emails documenting the widespread abuse of power and privilege within the Biglaw world.

As I've previously written in my ATL column, these are the toxic behaviors that push women out of law firms and hurt our profession as a whole. It's this type of despicable behavior that perpetuates negativity in our profession and continues to corrupt it. Yet, it's a sordid reality of how male Biglaw lawyers wield their power in and out of the courtroom -- and how law firms often sweep it under the rug because it's just regular business for them -- after all, if the Biglaw machine is making money, who cares, right? Imagine working for a firm for a decade and learning that the white, male partners refer to women and other POC with demeaning, condescending, and wholly inappropriate language. I'll let you click on the link to see the examples for yourself.

I worked for various abusive male lawyers throughout my law firm days. I'd often ask myself: if this is how they talk to me, can you imagine how they speak to their wives, daughters, and mothers? Allan Kassenoff is a prime example of this -- in various TikTok videos from Robbie Harvey, a journalist, which garnered more than 20 million views, he explains and documents the abuse and rage of Kassenoff calling his wife Catherine, a decorated and accomplished woman lawyer and mother to his three daughters, a "fat loser," among other derogatory terms.

Yet, the PR stunts played by these firms should not go unnoticed. Catherine Kassenoff made her public plea on Facebook before undergoing doctor-assisted suicide in Europe, shedding light on the magnitude of her life of hell with Allen Kassenoff. But like any good lawyer, she diligently attached a large file of documents and videos which noted the abuse and corruption in the case.

Greenberg Traurig has since put up a statement on its Facebook page defending its beloved firm partner. What we have yet to see are the comments from various legal assistants, law firm associates, and other women in Allan's work life who may have been privy to the pervasive patterns of verbal and emotional abuse that may have just been swept under the rug since he's a rainmaker for the firm. For such a brazen and bold figure, he's certainly now hidden -- removing his LinkedIn profile and causing GT to shut off all comments on its social media channels.

For Ranen and Barber, their abhorrent antisemitic, racist, and misogynistic behaviors have now come to light, but a little too late -- as the documented emails occurred while they were employed by Lewis Brisbois. Thus, it appears to be more of a "gotcha" way to preclude their new firm from flourishing -- perhaps from an insider at Lewis Brisbois who may be firing back after Ranen and Barber took away clients and lawyers from them. Yet, what's even more despicable is that Lewis Brisbois allowed this behavior to permeate for more than a decade, with the New York Post reporting emails that go as far back as June 2012. Where were the internal controls since law firms monitor emails and have various firewalls and language filters? Did they only go up after they exited the firm and took the 100-plus lawyers with them for their spinoff? Where was HR in all of this?

Here's the reality: emails are forever, as is the internet. Certainly, Kassenoff, Ranen, and Barber have shown us how Biglaw operates when push comes to shove with the billable hour and revenue. Yet, in the spirit of irony and hypocrisy, it makes complete sense that Ranen (as his LinkedIn profile denotes) was the editor of Boston College Law School's Third World Law Journal, focusing on civil rights.

Again, the irony within Biglaw shines bright like a diamond.

Wendi Weiner is an attorney, career expert, and founder of The Writing Guru, an award-winning executive resume writing services company. Wendi creates powerful career and personal brands for attorneys, executives, and C-suite/Board leaders for their job search and digital footprint. She also writes for major publications about alternative careers for lawyers, personal branding, LinkedIn storytelling, career strategy, and the job search process. You can reach her by email at wendi@writingguru.net, connect with her on LinkedIn, and follow her on Twitter @thewritingguru.