Font Size: 
Gay Associate Who Sued S&C Over Bias Joins Clifford Chance
New York Law Journal
July 29, 2008
The ex-Sullivan & Cromwell associate who brought a highly publicized sexual orientation discrimination suit against his former firm has been hired by Clifford Chance.
Aaron B. Charney will join the British law firm's New York office as a fifth-year mergers and acquisitions associate, a Clifford Chance spokesman said, adding that Charney had a "terrific reputation."
The hiring was first reported Monday on Above the Law, the legal gossip blog.
The associate's battle with Sullivan & Cromwell fascinated the New York legal community last year, both with its allegations against partners at one of the city's most prestigious firms and its bizarre twists and turns in the courtroom.
Charney's pro se January 2007 complaint charged that Sullivan & Cromwell partners discriminated because he is gay. The firm countered by firing Charney and filing its own suit, alleging the associate violated client confidences in his complaint and also stole documents from a partner's office.
At the time a confidential settlement was reached in October, the parties, by then both represented by prominent trial lawyers, courtroom arguments were primarily focused on the destruction of Charney's personal computer hard drive and whether he had spoliated evidence in response to intimidating threats to "squash" him by Sullivan & Cromwell vice chair Gandolfo V. DiBlasi.
Charney's ability to land another law firm position after being involved in such a high-profile suit against his former firm suggests such litigation may no longer be career suicide, provided the lawyer has desirable skills.
Clifford Chance and other major London firms have been especially eager to boost their New York M&A capabilities.
