On December 4, Elliot Dordick — a Jewish American lawyer — filed an ethics complaint with the attorney grievance committee of New York’s First Judicial Department against Paul Hastings LLP and four of its attorneys, including two partners. The complaint stems from filings by those Paul Hastings LLP attorneys in an ongoing bankruptcy proceeding (case number 22-50073) in Connecticut involving a high-profile Chinese dissident, Ho Wan Kwok.

Dordick posted the entirety of his complaint to Twitter, asking, “Why would these Paul Hastings LLP attorneys repeatedly cite a notoriously antisemitic, racist, anti-immigrant website in federal court to attack a Chinese dissident seeking asylum in the U.S. *without* telling the court of the nature of their source?”

The source in question is The Unz Review, founded by Ron Unz, who the ADL said “has denied the Holocaust, endorsed the claim that Jews consume the blood of non-Jews, and has claimed that Jews control the media, hate non-Jews, and worship Satan.” According to Dordick’s complaint, Chapter 11 Trustee Luc Despins and the other Paul Hastings attorneys substantively cited The Unz Review at least five times over several pages to justify their beliefs about the debtor’s alleged actions. More, according to the Dordick’s complaint, The Unz Review article cited by Despins and the other Paul Hastings LLP attorneys was written by Pepe Escobar, who the U.S. State Department said is involved in “disinformation campaigns by foreign, authoritarian states.”

Dordick pointed out that while Despins and the other Paul Hastings LLP attorneys made sure to remind the bankruptcy court of its obligation to view the Department of Justice-appointed bankruptcy trustee’s evidence with deference, they “conveniently” failed to mention noteworthy aspects of the evidence’s source.

On Twitter, Dordick continued, “I’m stunned to see this coming from such a prestigious firm. I took it upon myself to file the ethics complaint attached to these posts immediately upon discovering their actions. This legitimization of such an outrageous source has no place in our courtrooms.”

Dordick requested that the attorney grievance committee office to which he submitted his complaint investigate Paul Hastings LLP, Despins, and the other Paul Hastings LLP attorneys for potential ethics violations of rules related to: dishonesty, deceit, and misrepresentation; conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice; conduct that adversely reflects on a lawyer’s fitness as a lawyer; and the failure to adequately supervise lawyers at the firm. “How could Paul Hastings LLP possibly claim it properly oversees its attorneys if they lend credibility to sources of hatred in federal court?” Dordick wrote in a post on GETTR.

Supporters of the New Federal State of China (NFSC), a movement seeking to take down the Chinese Communist Party and liberate the Chinese people, flooded the comments sections of Dordick’s social media posts with messages of support and solidarity with the Jewish community, saying they stand against the promotion of antisemitic outlets in federal court by anyone, let alone attorneys at influential or respected law firms. Additionally, several noteworthy figures in the Jewish community, including but not limited to, former U.S. Deputy Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Ellie Cohanim, Newsweek Opinion Editor Josh Hammer, and former New York State Representative Dov Hikind have shared Dordick’s social media posts displaying his complaint in shows of support.