Litigating Campus and School Antisemitism in a Post-10/7 World (CLE)

Matt Benjamin is a partner in the New York office of Gibson Dunn. He is a member of Gibson Dunn’s Litigation, White Collar Defense and Investigations, and Crisis Management Practice Groups, among others. Matt has deep experience counseling prominent individuals and companies in sensitive privacy and defamation matters, reputational recovery matters, and founders’ disputes. Matt maintains a robust pro bono practice, with a particular focus on federal sentencing law, crime victims’ rights, and alternatives to incarceration. In November 2023, Matt and his colleagues at Gibson Dunn were honored to start – alongside ADL, Hillel International, and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law – the Campus Antisemitism Legal Line (CALL), a free legal protection helpline for college students and faculty who have experienced antisemitism.

Alyza D. Lewin is the President of The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law (“LDB”), a non-profit organization established to advance the civil and human rights of the Jewish people and promote justice for all. The Brandeis Center engages in research, education, and legal advocacy to combat the resurgence of anti-Semitism on college and university campuses, in the workplace, and elsewhere. It empowers students by training them to understand their legal rights and educates administrators and employers on best practices to combat racism and anti-Semitism. Ms. Lewin is also a co-founder and partner in Lewin & Lewin, LLP where she specializes in litigation, mediation and government relations. Her experience includes criminal defense, civil litigation and anti-discrimination matters.

Ms. Lewin led the litigation team that represented Avi Zinger, the Israeli licensee of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, in the lawsuit that Mr. Zinger filed against Unilever to prevent Ben & Jerry’s boycott of Israel. Ms. Lewin negotiated a successful resolution to that matter pursuant to which Avi Zinger obtained the right in perpetuity to sell Ben & Jerry’s ice cream everywhere in Israel and the territories using the Hebrew and Arabic logos.

In 2014, Lewin argued Zivotofsky v. Kerry (the “Jerusalem Passport” case) before the U.S. Supreme Court, a case involving the constitutionality of a law granting any American citizen born in Jerusalem the right to list “Israel” as the place of birth on his/her U.S. passport. In Zivotofsky, the Supreme Court held that the President of the United States has the exclusive authority to recognize foreign sovereigns. The case paved the way for President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights. After 18 years, Ms. Lewin brought this pro-bono case to a successful resolution in October 2020, when Secretary of State Pompeo revised the US passport regulations and Ambassador David Friedman presented her client with the very first US passport to list “Israel” as place of birth for a US citizen born in Jerusalem.

Ms. Lewin, together with her father Nathan Lewin, also successfully represented the Boim family in its landmark civil tort litigation which established the right of American victims of terror to obtain damages under American law against organizations that knowingly provide financial support to international terrorist groups.

Ms. Lewin began her law career in Israel where she clerked on the Supreme Court for Deputy President Justice Menachem Elon. Ms. Lewin served as President of the American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists (“AAJLJ”) from 2012 – 2017. In January 2020, Ms. Lewin was awarded the AAJLJ’s distinguished Pursuit of Justice Award.

Ms. Lewin received her B.A. from Princeton University in 1988 and a J.D. from New York University School of Law in 1992. She is a member of the bars of New York and the District of Columbia. Ms. Lewin has also been trained as a mediator by the American Arbitration Association and the Center for Dispute Settlement.

Ms. Lewin is married and has four children.

David Yolkut is Counsel at Mayer Brown LLP, where he is a member of the firm’s Litigation & Dispute Resolution and Supreme Court & Appellate practice groups. David focuses on a wide variety of complex commercial disputes in federal and state courts, and he has extensive experience in media and entertainment litigation. David also maintains an active pro bono practice, with a particular focus on protecting religious freedom. In 2024, David and a team at Mayer Brown brought a Title VI complaint against the School District of Philadelphia on behalf of the ADL, addressing repeated incidents of antisemitic harassment, bullying, and discrimination. The matter resulted in a Resolution Agreement between the school district and the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, in which the school district agreed to implement comprehensive reforms to its policies and practices. David has also successfully represented Jewish day schools, synagogues, eruv associations, and homeowners in high-profile civil and constitutional cases when religious liberties are threatened. In 2019, David and his team secured one of the largest ever recoveries under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act for a synagogue in Clifton, New Jersey. In recognition of his pro bono efforts, David was recently honored by the Orthodox Union.

David received his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania law school, and his B.A. from Yeshiva University.

James Pasch is the ADL’s Vice President, Litigation, after serving as ADL’s Cleveland Regional Director (serving Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia and Western Pennsylvania). James is leading a legal advocacy practice for ADL during a particularly important time, as antisemitism and extremism become more mainstream.

Notably, in November 2023, he oversaw the launch of CALL (Campus Antisemitism Legal Line), a free hotline, providing legal assistance for anyone experiencing antisemitism on college campuses. The project has already led to sweeping changes that have been instituted on campuses and K12 schools to protect Jewish students, after ADL filings.

James is also leading ADL’s legal efforts in fighting back against the deadliest antisemitic attack since the Holocaust. ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) and Crowell & Moring LLP filed a federal lawsuit alleging Iran, Syria and North Korea provided material support to Hamas that enabled it to commit atrocities in Israel on October 7, 2023, that killed, injured, and terrorized scores of U.S. citizens and their families. In a world in which October 7^th denialism took hold almost immediately after the attack, this case will set the record straight about the horrors of what occurred on that day, who was responsible for providing material support for this heinous terrorist attack, and will ultimately provide a path for justice, accountability and redress.

In his time leading the ADL Cleveland Office, James launched a pro-bono legal assistance program to assist victims of hate crimes in Ohio and drove the region’s response in the aftermath of the Tree of Life synagogue attack in Pittsburgh. James Pasch graduated from University of Vermont and earned his law degree at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. Prior to entering the legal profession, James worked on Capitol Hill, first for Senator Frank Lautenberg and then as a law clerk on the Senate Judiciary Committee for Senator Patrick Leahy. He then built a thriving small firm litigation practice in Cleveland. James served as the Case Western Reserve Law School’s Assistant Dean of Development and External Affairs during the Law School’s Capital Campaign. James has also served two-terms as a Councilman in Beachwood, where he led the City’s passage of its anti-discrimination ordinance.

Rachel Grinspan is ADL’s Associate General Counsel. In this role, she focuses on using the law to hold people and entities accountable for engaging in antisemitism, hate or extremism, as well as helping to provide justice for individuals who have been targeted by hate. As part of the national litigation team, Rachel helps run the Campus Antisemitism Legal Line (CALL) and focuses on efforts to expand ADL’s reach within the courts and with law firms across the country. Before her current role, she served as Associate Regional Director of the NY/NJ Regional Office and as Director of Law Enforcement Policy & Civil Rights for ADL’s national Law Enforcement team. Prior to joining ADL in 2019, Rachel worked as an Agency Attorney for the New York City Police Department and as an Assistant District Attorney in the Special Victims Bureau at the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office. She holds a B.A. from Syracuse University and a Juris Doctor from Touro Law School.