Sullivan & Cromwell, a prominent Wall Street law firm, implemented new standards for job applicants from top law schools following antisemitic protests that swept America’s universities in the aftermath of Hamas’s October 7 terrorist attack on Israel.
The policy, detailed in a New York Times report, dictates that individuals who participated in college protests should be held responsible for their actions, as well as the actions of those around them, Joseph C. Shenker of Sullivan & Cromwell, told the Times. The firm conducts background checks on potential first-year associates to scrutinize applicants’ involvement with pro-Palestinian groups and campus protests, looking for examples of antisemitism. Public use of the phrase, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” will be considered disqualifying for applicants, Shenker said.
“People are taking their outrage about what’s going on in Gaza and turning it into racist antisemitism,” Shenker said.
Sullivan & Cromwell is the first firm on Wall Street to publicly discuss such a rule, although four other high-caliber firms are considering a similar policy. The firm will screen students who apply from top law schools, including Harvard University, Yale College, Columbia University, and New York University, each of which had hundreds of students participate in anti-Israel protests.
Some law firms have rescinded job offers for students who participated in campus protests, or who signed onto anti-Israel statements that blamed Israel for Hamas’s terrorism. In November, Shenker’s firm joined hundreds of other firms in encouraging law school deans to curb campus antisemitism.
“As employers who recruit from each of your law schools, we look to you to ensure your students who hope to join our firms after graduation are prepared to be an active part of workplace communities that have zero tolerance policies for any form of discrimination or harassment, much less the kind that has been taking place on some law school campuses,” the firms wrote. “We trust you will take the same unequivocal stance against such activities as we do, and we look forward to a respectful dialogue with you to understand how you are addressing with urgency this serious situation at your law schools.”
Law Students for Palestine is a group of students from more than 60 law schools. Multiple students at Harvard law held anti-Israel signs and Palestinian flags at graduation, the group lauded, and Yale law graduates wore keffiyehs and held signs that read “ceasefire now” and “free Palestine.”