For our money, the only sane and effective response is to recognize in unblinking fashion the daunting new unknowns you’re facing: Describe them with clarity, and consider what they might mean for your lawyers, staff and clients. You then might triage them into, say, which (a) will take care of themselves once humanity is out of this tunnel, so let’s make a donation to medical science; (b) are permanent but readily manageable or even welcome; and (c) are permanent, nasty, and insoluble, at least in the short run.
This is what leadership looks like. Not invoking hazy rhetoric about “always bouncing back” or “emerging stronger together.” Not to minimize the call to action: The firm and (again) your clients are eager bordering on desperate to hear that. But what you need simultaneously with that and of vastly greater importance in the long run is a plan. (As soon as you have your Plan #1, design Plan #2 to get people to unite behind Plan #1.)
So that’s Hook #1 for this story.
Hook #2?
Rarely—too rarely, we confess—do we expect, much less ask, law firm leaders to speak up on issues of the day. (Nor did we do it this time.) But you will recognize some of the 163 signatories to the letter:
Neil Barr, Managing Partner, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
Candace K. Beinecke, Senior Partner, Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP
David J. Beveridge, Senior Partner, Shearman & Sterling, LLP
Michael W. Blair, Presiding Partner, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
H. Rodgin Cohen, Senior Chairman, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
Eric J. Friedman, Executive Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
David J. Greenwald, Chairman, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP
Roberta Kaplan, Founding Partner, Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP
Brad S. Karp, Chair, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
Martin Lipton, Senior Partner, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Michael Schmidtberger, Partner & Chair of the Executive Committee, Sidley Austin LLP
If this were your city, would your name be on this list?
If your answer is no, would the witness like to reconsider?
The full text of the letter including all signatories follows.
Today, business leaders from multiple industries and all five boroughs sent the following letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio, pledging their commitment to the city and asking that action be taken on public safety and other quality of life issues that jeopardize economic recovery. Full letter below.
The Honorable Bill de Blasio
Mayor of New York City
City Hall
New York, NY 10007
Dear Mayor de Blasio:
As employers who are committed to New York City and its re-emergence from the devastating health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are confident that New York can and shall remain a thriving global center of commerce, innovation and opportunity.
Despite New York’s success in containing the coronavirus, unprecedented numbers of New Yorkers are unemployed, facing homelessness, or otherwise at risk. There is widespread anxiety over public safety, cleanliness and other quality of life issues that are contributing to deteriorating conditions in commercial districts and neighborhoods across the five boroughs.
We need to send a strong, consistent message that our employees, customers, clients and visitors will be coming back to a safe and healthy work environment. People will be slow to return unless their concerns about security and the livability of our communities are addressed quickly and with respect and fairness for our city’s diverse populations.
We urge you to take immediate action to restore essential services as a necessary precursor for solving the city’s longer term, complex, economic challenges. Consistent with analysis and recommendations laid out in A Call for Action and Collaboration, a report on the impact of COVID-19 published by the Partnership for New York City in July, we are prepared to help advise and support such an effort.
We look forward to your response and to partnering with you and others who share a commitment to a vibrant recovery and a great future for our city.
Sincerely,
Lee S. Ainslie, III, Managing Partner, Maverick Capital
Ellen Alemany, Chairman & CEO, CIT Group Inc.
Jeffrey Aronson, Managing Principal, Centerbridge Partners
Ajay Banga, Chief Executive Officer, Mastercard
Linda Baran, President & CEO, Staten Island Chamber of Commerce
Jeffrey H. Barker, New York State President, Bank of America
Neil Barr, Managing Partner, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
Candace K. Beinecke, Senior Partner, Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP
Charles R. Bendit, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Taconic Investment Partners LLC
William H. Berkman, Co-Chairman & CEO, Digital Landscape Group, Inc.
Torry Berntsen, Chief Executive Officer, Americas & Head of Corporate and Institutional Banking, Standard Chartered Bank
David J. Beveridge, Senior Partner, Shearman & Sterling, LLP
Frank J. Bisignano, Chief Executive Officer, Fiserv
Michael W. Blair, Presiding Partner, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
Jeff T. Blau, Chief Executive Officer, The Related Companies, L.P.
Kathy Bloomgarden, Chief Executive Officer, Ruder Finn, Inc.
Adam M. Blumenthal, Managing Partner, Blue Wolf Capital Partners
Neil Blumenthal, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Warby Parker
John Borthwick, Founder & CEO, Betaworks
Albert Bourla, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Pfizer Inc.
Martin S. Burger, Chief Executive Officer, Silverstein Properties, Inc.
Gregory C. Case, Chief Executive Officer, Aon plc
Richard M. Cashin, Managing Partner, One Equity Partners
John Catsimatidis, Chairman & CEO, Red Apple Group, Inc.
Ric Clark, Chairman, Brookfield Property Partners
- Rodgin Cohen,Senior Chairman, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
Richard Coles, Managing Principal, Vanbarton Group LLC
Marc Cooper, Chief Executive Officer, PJ Solomon, L.P.
Michael L. Corbat, Chief Executive Officer, Citigroup
Anthony J. de Nicola, President, Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe
Todd C. DeGarmo, Chief Executive Officer, STUDIOS Architecture
AnnaMaria DeSalva, Global Chairman & CEO, Hill+Knowlton Strategies
Annemarie DiCola, Chief Executive Officer, Trepp, LLC
Toby Dodd, President, New York Tri-State, Cushman & Wakefield, Inc.
William R. Dougherty, Chairman, Executive Committee, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP
Douglas Durst, Chairman, Durst Organization Inc.
Blair W. Effron, Co-Founder, Centerview Partners
Joel S. Ehrenkranz, Partner and Co-Founder, Ehrenkranz Partners L.P.
Douglas F. Eisenberg, Founder and CEO, A&E Real Estate, LLC
Catherine Engelbert, Commissioner, WNBA
Hafize Gaye Erkan, President & Board Member, First Republic Bank
Alexander Farman-Farmaian, Vice Chairman, Portfolio Manager, Edgewood Management LLC
Ziel Feldman, Chairman & Founder, HFZ Capital Group
Joseph R. Ficalora, President & CEO, New York Community Bancorp, Inc.
John Fish, Chairman & CEO, Suffolk
Winston C. Fisher, Partner, Fisher Brothers
Alan H. Fishman, Chairman, Ladder Capital Finance
William E. Ford, Chief Executive Officer, General Atlantic LLC
Adena Friedman, President & CEO, Nasdaq
Eric J. Friedman, Executive Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
Mark T. Gallogly, Co-Founder & Managing Principal, Centerbridge Partners
Kenneth M. Garschina, Principal, Mason Capital Management, LLC
Jeff Gennette, Chairman & CEO, Macy’s, Inc.
Dave Gilboa, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Warby Parker
MaryAnne Gilmartin, Founder and CEO, MAG Partners LP
Daniel Glaser, President & CEO, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc.
Timothy Gokey, Chief Executive Officer, Broadridge
James P. Gorman, Chairman & CEO, Morgan Stanley
Barry M. Gosin, Chief Executive Officer, Newmark Knight Frank
Jonathan N. Grayer, Chairman & CEO, Weld North LLC
Thomas Grech, President & CEO, Queens Chamber of Commerce
Logan Green, Co-Founder & CEO, Lyft
David J. Greenwald, Chairman, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP
Kelly Grier, U.S. Chairman & Americas Managing Partner, Ernst & Young LLP
Stewart KP Gross, Managing Director, Lightyear Capital
Robin Hayes, Chief Executive Officer, JetBlue Airways Corporation
Sean Hecker, Partner, Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP
James H. Herbert, II, Founder, Chairman and CEO, First Republic Bank
Donna Imperato, Chief Executive Officer, BCW
Frederick J. Iseman, Chairman & CEO, CI Capital Partners LLC
Kenneth M. Jacobs, Chairman & CEO, Lazard Ltd
John Josephson, Chairman & CEO, Sesac
Roberta Kaplan, Founding Partner, Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP
Brad S. Karp, Chair, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
Charles R. Kaye, Chief Executive Officer, Warburg Pincus LLC
Michel A. Khalaf, President & CEO, MetLife, Inc.
Paul Knopp, U.S. Chair and CEO, KPMG LLP
Henry R. Kravis, Co-Chairman & Co-CEO, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
Philip Krim, Founder & CEO, Casper
Rochelle B. Lazarus, Chairman Emeritus, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide
Joey Levin, Chief Executive Officer, IAC
Allan Levine, Chairman & CEO, Global Atlantic Financial Company
Jeffrey E. Levine, Chairman, Douglaston Development
Robert A. Levine, Chief Executive Officer, RAL Companies & Affiliates, LLC
Martin Lipton, Senior Partner, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Alex Liu, Managing Partner and Chairman, Kearney
Robert P. LoCascio, Founder & CEO, LivePerson, Inc.
Mehdi Mahmud, CEO, First Eagle Investment Management
Anthony Malkin, Chairman, President & CEO, Empire State Realty Trust
Anthony E. Mann, President & CEO, E-J Electric Installation Co.
Joel S. Marcus, Executive Chairman & Founder, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.
Theodore Mathas, Chairman & CEO, New York Life Insurance Company
Sandeep Mathrani, Chief Executive Officer, WeWork
Peter W. May, President & Founding Partner, Trian Partners
John McAvoy, Chairman, President & CEO, Con Edison, Inc.
Charles R. McCall, Chief Executive Officer, Astoria Energy II LLC &, Astoria Energy LLC
Raymond W. McDaniel, Jr., President & CEO, Moody’s Corporation
Avner Mendelson, President & CEO, Bank Leumi USA
Heidi Messer, Co-Founder & Chairperson, Collective[i]
Keith Mestrich, President & CEO, Amalgamated Bank
Jayne Millard, Chairman & Co-CEO, Turtle & Hughes, Inc.
Edward J. Minskoff, Chairman & CEO, Edward J. Minskoff Equities, Inc.
Ken Moelis, Chairman and CEO, Moelis & Company
Greg Mondre, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Silver Lake
Daniel Moore, President & CEO, Rockefeller Group International, Inc.
Tyler Morse, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Partner, MCR Development LLC
Deanna M. Mulligan, Chief Executive Officer, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America
Tom Naratil, President Americas, Co-President Global Wealth Management, UBS Group AG
Jon Oringer, Executive Chairman, Shutterstock, Inc.
John Paulson, President, Paulson & Co., Inc.
Stan Pavlovksky, CEO, Shutterstock, Inc.
Mark Pearson, President & CEO, Equitable
Randolph Peers, President & CEO, Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce
Debbie Perelman, President & CEO, Revlon, Inc.
Michael A. Peterson, Chairman & CEO, Peter G. Peterson Foundation
Douglas L. Peterson, President & CEO, S&P Global
Charles E. Phillips, Jr., Chairman, Infor
Deirdre Quinn, Co-Founder & CEO, Lafayette 148 New York
Steven L. Rattner, Chairman & CEO, Willett Advisors LLC
Scott H. Rechler, Chairman & CEO, RXR Realty LLC
Michael Roberts, President & CEO, HSBC Bank USA
James D. Robinson, III, Co-Founder & General Partner, RRE Ventures
Evan Roth, Co-Chief Executive Officer, BBR Partners, LLC
Michael I. Roth, Chairman & CEO, Interpublic Group
Steven Roth, Chairman & CEO, Vornado Realty Trust
Steven Rubenstein, President, Rubenstein Communications, Inc.
Mitchell E. Rudin, Chairman & CEO, Savills Inc.
William C. Rudin, Co-Chairman & CEO, Rudin Management Company, Inc.
Kevin P. Ryan, Founder & CEO, AlleyCorp
Timothy Ryan, U.S. Chairman & Senior Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP
Scott Salmirs, President & CEO, ABM Industries Inc.
Kathleen Savio, Chief Executive Officer, North America, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd
Michael Schmidtberger, Partner & Chair of the Executive Committee, Sidley Austin LLP
Alan D. Schnitzer, Chairman & CEO, The Travelers Companies, Inc.
Alan D. Schwartz, Executive Chairman, Guggenheim Partners, LLC
Stephen A. Schwarzman, Chairman, CEO & Co-Founder, Blackstone
Frank J. Sciame, Chairman & CEO, Sciame Construction, LLC
Kathleen Shanahan, Co-CEO, Turtle & Hughes, Inc.
Suzanne Shank, CEO, Siebert Williams Shank & Co., LLC
Tarek Sherif, Chairman & CEO, Medidata Solutions, Inc.
Adam Silver, Commissioner, National Basketball Association
Joshua Silverman, Chief Executive Officer, Etsy, Inc.
Michael C. Slocum, President, Commercial Banking, Capital One Bank
David M. Solomon, Chairman & CEO, Goldman Sachs
Jeffrey Solomon, Chairman & CEO, Cowen
Lisa Sorin, President, The Bronx Chamber of Commerce
Rob Speyer, President & CEO, Tishman Speyer
Robert K. Steel, Chairman, Perella Weinberg Partners
Charles Stewart, Chief Executive Officer, Sotheby’s
Sanjay Swani, Partner, Tailwind Capital
Steven R. Swartz, President & CEO, Hearst
Paul J. Taubman, Chairman & CEO, PJT Partners Inc.
Teiji Teramoto, Chairman & CEO, Mizuho Americas
Owen D. Thomas, Chief Executive Officer, Boston Properties
Mary Ann Tighe, Chief Executive Officer, NY Tri-State Region, CBRE, Inc.
James S. Tisch, President & CEO, Loews Corporation
Gary M. Tischler, Founder & Managing Partner, Vanbarton Group LLC
Daniel R. Tishman, Vice Chairman, AECOM & Principal, Tishman Realty
Jean-Marie Tritant, President, U.S., Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield
Joseph Ucuzoglu, Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte
Robert Vecchio, Chief Executive Officer, LPI, Inc.
George H. Walker, Chairman & CEO, Neuberger Berman Group LLC
Jessica Walker, President & CEO, Manhattan Chamber of Commerce
Debra Walton, Chief Revenue Officer, Refinitiv
Charles Weinstein, Chief Executive Officer, EisnerAmper LLP
David Winter, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Standard Industries Inc.
Laila J. Worrell, Chief Executive Officer, Altran Americas + frog
Kathryn S. Wylde, President & CEO, Partnership for New York City
Strauss Zelnick, Partner, ZMC
John Zimmer, Co-Founder & President, Lyft
cc: Governor Andrew Cuomo
New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson
New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer
