The Biglaw Partner That Called Out Judge Kozinski
Is retirement taking the easy way out?
Katherine Ku
On December 18th, famed Ninth Circuit judge Alex Kozinski retired. While it was the end of a notable legal career, it came amid a sexual harassment scandal and so it wasn’t met with the typical rosy accolades that typically accompany a 30+ year stint on the bench. While the jurist’s bawdy sense of humor was well known the extent of the alleged harassment — asking women clerks to view pornography with him in his chambers, making inappropriate sexual comments, and verbal abuse heaped on female juniors — was only whispered about. But once the Washington Post did an exposé on the experiences of clerks working for Kozinski, others felt compelled to tell their #metoo tales — over a dozen women came forward — about the judge and within a week he was off the bench.
But that doesn’t have to be the end of the story. Indeed, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati partner Katherine Ku argues it shouldn’t be. Ku clerked for Koz in 2003-04, and earlier this month she wrote her own WaPo op-ed detailing her experience. In what has become a familiar story, she alleges Kozinski “regularly diminished women and their accomplishments” and even asked her to look at a picture of a nude man with him. As she describes, that experience profoundly changed her clerkship experience:
For the rest of my year-long clerkship, I closed the door to my office and communicated with the judge as little as possible.
In a new interview with Law.com, Ku reveals she was compelled to go public with her story after Kozinski resigned. While some viewed Kozinski’s resignation as the end of the story, Ku explains that the cased-closed attitude disturbed her and she believes an investigation into the judge’s pattern of behavior is critical for the legal profession as a whole:
The legal profession’s and general public’s reactions to the allegations against the judge and to the likely consequences of his resignation for the federal judiciary’s inquiry into his misconduct struck me as muted. That concerned me.
His behavior was not as shocking as what we’ve heard about figures like Harvey Weinstein, but the allegations concerned a highly regarded and influential Article III judge—someone with significant public duties. An investigation to fully uncover what had happened seemed critical, for the reasons I explained in the piece.
Ku remains the only lawyer still in private practice to come forward under her own name to describe the “hostile, demeaning and persistently sexualized environment” of his chambers. (Kozinski’s first named accuser, Heidi Bond, left the law to begin a career as an author). As Ku’s original piece notes, in the absence of an official investigation others, perhaps afraid to be seen as “piling on” are less likely to come forward. And as she told Law.com, it can also be uncomfortable for attorneys to have their role in a public controversy inverted:
[T]hose of us in private practice wish to be viewed by our clients and colleagues first and foremost as professionals and advocates. That can be hard to reconcile with voluntarily involving oneself in a situation like this as a victim or bystander, rather than as counsel.
If or when Kozinski attempts a second act — after the #metoo zeitgeist has passed — Ku notes that he’ll benefit from cutting off the continued conversation about his behavior that was orchestrated by his retirement.
[I]t appears that Kozinski’s future in the legal profession almost certainly will be decided without the benefit of a robust investigation. At some point, a law school dean may have to weigh whether to place him in a position of trust over budding legal careers. Law firms may need to assess whether he’d be a fair mediator or arbitrator for their clients’ disputes. And the people making those decisions will have to do so without knowing the full scope of his misconduct.
Ku’s coming forward — and when she did it — is a demonstration that women who have stories to tell haven’t missed their moment. And we’ll all be better off when the allegations see the light of day.
Kathryn 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).
