Top LA law firm publishes dozens of emails in which top partners called judge “sugar t***”, called female lawyers “c****” and denigrated Jewish people after they defected to start their own law firm
- John Barber and Jeff Ranen left Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith last month
- They left to start a “compassionate” company, taking over 100 colleagues with them
- But their emails show that they often use racist, homophobic and sexist terms
One of the country’s largest law firms has released numerous emails showing that two of their former partners regularly use racist, homophobic and misogynistic language.
Lawyers John Barber, 55, and Jeff Ranen, 45, said they were leaving the Los Angeles law firm of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith last month to build their own “compassionate firm,” and would take 100 colleagues with them.
In a press release, the attorneys portrayed their former law firm as a for-profit firm where they were forced to compromise on their values, saying their new firm would focus on “pay it forward.”
The mega-corporation then hit back last weekend, publishing emails between Barber and Ranen in which they repeatedly used inflammatory remarks against women, black and Jewish people, and gay men, among others.
The emails, seen by the New York Post, go back 15 years and show a Supreme Court justice called “Sugar T***” by Barber and several women called “c****” by Ranen .
The LA law firm where John Barber (left) and Jeff Ranen were once partners has released emails showing they repeatedly used foul language over 15 years
When a lawyer asked for overtime in June 2012, Barber wrote: ‘Kill her by anal penetration’
The disgraced pair also discussed denying a job to an Asian applicant because of his alleged penis size and fired another applicant with, “How about someone who isn’t a Jew.”
When a lawyer asked for overtime in June 2012, Barber wrote, “Kill her by anal penetration.”
In November 2012, Ranen sent an email to Barber noting another partner’s “massive cock.” That partner was one of the lawyers who followed the couple to their new office, as reported by the Post.
Earlier that same year, Ranen wrote to Barber, “Gypsy is my new word to describe about half of California’s minorities.”
When Barber was told in November 2013 that a colleague was upset because a witness used the N-word a lot, he replied: ‘Understand. N*****. Do not use.’ Barber reportedly spelled the full slur.
Barber used the full slur again in October 2012, and the partners also made frequent use of “f*****” and other anti-LGBT terms.
After George Floyd’s death sparked nationwide protests, Ranen emailed Barber saying, “F****** looters got within a mile and a half. I can’t even imagine what it was like to live in Larchmont [Los Angeles] in 1992 when the savages decimated Koreatown.”
When Barber was told in November 2013 that a colleague was upset because a witness used the N-word a lot, he replied: ‘Understand. N*****. do not use’
The top LA firm has previously represented celebrity clients such as Salt Bae and Kathy Griffin
“The past 72 hours have been the hardest of our lives, as we’ve had to acknowledge and reckon with those emails,” Barber and Ranen said in a joint statement announcing their resignations from the new company.
“We are ashamed of the words we wrote and we are deeply sorry.”
Barber and Ranen’s planned company, Barber Ranen, appears to have collapsed after the release of their emails, with CEO Tim Graves saying the remaining partners will form a new company.
DailyMail.com has contacted Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith for comment on this story.
Barber had been with the company for over 25 years and Ranen had been there for 20 years.
The top LA firm has more than 1,600 attorneys in offices around the world; rather, it represented celebrity clients such as Salt Bae and Kathy Griffin.