Biglaw Partner Gets Thrown Under The Bus By Her Firm

This is a warning for other Biglaw partners eager to get on TV by spouting unsubstantiated talking points.

Remember Mercedes Colwin? The managing partner of Gordon & Rees’s New York office who’s a Fox News talking head went on Sean Hannity’s show last week to tell the world that women who speak out about sexual harassment and assault are usually doing so for money and women who are victims of predators are “very few and far between.”

Yes, that really happened.

And when Jordan Weissmann of Slate reached out for comment, she declined to walk back on her assertion that real victims were rare, but claimed to be “sympathetic” to them — whenever they exist.

Mercedes Colwin

Now Gordon & Rees has come forward with their statement from Dion Cominos, firmwide managing partner, on the incident. To say they’re trying to distance themselves from one of their partners is an understatement. Here’s the key graph where they call out Colwin’s “very few and far between” claim as inaccurate, turning the phrase against her:

[T]he organization in no way endorses or agrees with any statements which could even remotely be interpreted as minimizing or trivializing the seriousness and gravity of sexual harassment or similarly predatory behaviors, and we renounce them in the strongest possible terms – in fact, contrary to what may have been inferred from what was said during the telecast, the sad reality is that the number of women who likely have not been exposed to such repugnant conduct over the course of their personal or professional lives is, unfortunately, few and far between.

Hope Colwin likes the view from under the bus.

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Oh, and she is out of firm management:

The partner in question has voluntarily stepped down from all management roles within the firm and she is committed to rectifying the hurtful impressions created by her remarks.

Well, that’s a pretty strong statement. I’m sure there are some people who’d like to see Colwin removed from the firm entirely — and I feel you on that one — but removing a partner is a lot more complicated than some at-will employee. Cominos’s statement makes clear the firm’s priorities, and serves as a warning for any other Biglaw partners eager to get TV time by spouting unsubstantiated talking points.

Read the firm’s full statement below.

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headshotKathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).