Former Davis Polk & Wardwell managing partner Thomas Reid, an individual defendant in former associate Kaloma Cardwell’s retaliation suit against the firm, testified on Thursday that he tried to help as Cardwell’s performance allegedly declined in 2017.

Cardwell, the only Black male in Davis Polk’s 2014 associate class, sued Davis Polk, Reid and other Davis Polk attorneys in 2019, the same year Reid left the firm to become chief legal officer at Comcast.