Roberta A. Kaplan, the prominent lawyer who took on former President Donald J. Trump and helped win marriage equality for gay Americans, is stepping down from the law firm she founded after clashing with partners over the treatment of a colleague.
Kaplan, a dedicated civil rights lawyer, announced he was leaving the law firm he founded in 2017, Kaplan, Hecker & Fink, to start a new firm.
Ms. Kaplan's resignation came after months of internal discontent over her behavior toward other lawyers, concerns that led colleagues to remove her from the firm's management committee and hasten her departure, according to people familiar with the matter.
Mr. Kaplan's former firm will be renamed Hecker Fink effective Monday. “Robbie brought us together, and for that we are grateful to her,” the firm's remaining partners said in an internal memo seen by The New York Times.
“It was Robbie's decision to leave the firm,” two of the firm's partners, Julie Fink and Sean Hecker, said in a statement. “We wish her the best of luck and look forward to working with her and her new firm in the future.”
In an interview with Bloomberg, Kaplan said he and his colleagues were leaving because Kaplan, Hecker & Fink had “grown in size and complexity beyond what I had envisioned, and I wanted to get back to doing more agile work.”
Kaplan's resignation was announced after The Times told his personal lawyer that it was preparing to run an article highlighting complaints some employees have made about an unprofessional work culture led by Kaplan. Kaplan's lawyer had no comment Wednesday night.
News of Kaplan's departure from the firm erupted through legal circles on Wednesday, as lawyers tried to understand the circumstances behind the sudden departure of one of the country's most prominent lawyers.
Kaplan and his wife had deep ties to the Democratic Party, and she was a hero to many liberal activists: In addition to her Supreme Court case that laid the groundwork for the nationwide legalization of same-sex marriage, she became a leader in the #MeToo movement.
Most recently, he represented author E. Jean Carroll in her libel lawsuit against Trump, winning a landmark $83 million damages judgment this year.
When Mr. Kaplan, 57, left the prestigious corporate law firm Paul, Weiss & Co. to start his own firm, he recruited lawyers with a progressive mission and the promise of a different kind of high-end firm, one free from the macho culture that often plagues the industry. He said Kaplan, Hecker & Fink was founded “on the principle that there should always be someone who stands up to the bullies.”
By many standards, Mr. Kaplan's firm was thriving: Its 60 or so lawyers in New York and Washington were winning big cases, prestigious awards and earning fees that rivaled much larger, more established firms.
A few months after opening his office in a converted barn in the Hamptons, the #MeToo movement took off and Kaplan quickly made it a key issue.
A few weeks later, in one of the first legal battles of the #MeToo era, she announced that she would represent a woman being sued for defamation by film director Brett Ratner. She publicly opined that lawyers like her “must help women on all fronts speak up and make their opinions heard.”
Mr. Kaplan eventually became president of Time's Up, a high-profile nonprofit that fights sexual harassment in the workplace, and co-founded its legal defense fund. He lobbied for legal changes to make it easier for victims to sue their abusers.
But while she and her company were racking up wins, some employees were unhappy with Kaplan's leadership: Several people who worked with her told The Times that she had insulted employees, made inappropriate comments about their appearance and threatened to ruin their careers.
Kaplan's lawyers denied that he made inappropriate comments to colleagues and said his firm takes allegations of workplace misconduct seriously. They added that “nothing is more banal than a litigation lawyer using colorful language, criticizing colleagues and representing diverse clients with no expectation of ideological purity.”
In addition to complaints about Mr. Kaplan's treatment of colleagues, some lawyers at the firm were upset that some of his legal work seemed at odds with the liberal ideals he espouses.
When then-New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo faced sexual harassment allegations in 2020, he sought Mr. Kaplan's advice on how to handle the crisis, and Mr. Kaplan's role became public months later when the state attorney general released a report detailing his investigation into Mr. Cuomo's conduct.
The backlash was fierce. More than 150 victims and victim advocates signed an open letter to the Time's Up board, accusing it of prioritizing “access to power over its mission.” Kaplan immediately resigned as board chair.
Tensions around Mr. Kaplan began around that time but have intensified in recent months, according to a person familiar with internal affairs at the law firm.
Mr. Kaplan tried to persuade some of his colleagues to leave with him, but most declined, according to two people familiar with the matter, an offer that only created more friction within the company.
“My job is risky and challenging and requires both toughness and precision,” Kaplan said in a statement to The Times. She added that because she has taken on “some of the world's biggest bullies,” “some people will dislike me, but that's just part of the job, especially if you're a woman. I'm proud of my record as a lawyer, colleague and leader.”