For top #MeToo legal duo, a pandemic year brings no pause

The pandemic hasn't slowed down two of the most prominent #MeToo attorneys, who say they're having their busiest year ever

She’d just upended her life by going public with sexual harassment allegations against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. And Charlotte Bennett, a former aide to the governor, realized that Saturday night in February that she had no plan for what came next. She was 25 years old, and had never been in the media spotlight. How would she deal with the fallout, both publicly and personally? She didn’t have long to wonder. The next morning, an email arrived from Debra Katz, the same civil rights attorney who’d represented Christine Blasey Ford, accuser of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, along with accusers of Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein and countless other powerful men accused of sexual misconduct, most of it along with her professional partner of 20 years, Lisa Banks. “How are you holding up?” Katz asked Bennett when they connected. Did she have support or advice? Not really, Bennett said. “This case is literally why I do this work,” Katz explained, assuring her she'd represent her on a pro bono basis. “It’s why I exist. Let’s do this.”