Following viral resignation letter, former Skadden associate is now talking about ICE on TikTok
Former BigLaw associate Rachel Cohen has a knack for viral content. She demonstrated her online prowess in March when she posted her conditional resignation letter pledging to leave Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom absent an adequate response to punitive executive orders targeting law firms. She ultimately left the firm.
Now, she is taking her activism to TikTok and Instagram in a series of viral posts.
Her content includes videos focusing on grassroots efforts in Chicago to protest deportations by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“My best friend and I were interested in demystifying how to get involved in community organizing by creating traditional ‘influencer’ content, like when people post makeup tutorials or restaurant recommendations, but focused on mutual aid and volunteering,” she told the ABA Journal in an email.
“I’m humbled to report that they are having an impact; a number of people have reached out online or in person to tell me they are participating in mutual aid actions or attending anti-ICE events because of the videos.”
Cohen has more than 275,000 followers on TikTok and more than 46,000 followers on Instagram.
Block Club Chicago had a story on Cohen’s videos, which are getting tens of thousands of views. The story highlights one video in which Cohen asked watchers to come with her to get arrested outside an ICE detention facility. Other videos call for help with an ICE court watch project.
Cohen also posts written content on Substack, which is available for free or via paid subscription. “This Labor Day weekend, I got arrested outside of an ICE processing facility in Broadview, Illinois,” she writes in one post. “I was sitting in the street in front of the facility, blocking a van full of my detained neighbors bound for deportation.” She went on to ask her readers to join her and “sacrifice as much as we reasonably can to stop the government from disappearing people.”
Cohen left Skadden in March over its failure to provide a “satisfactory response” to President Donald Trump’s punitive executive orders against law firms. Skadden later reached a pro bono deal with Trump to avoid becoming a target.
After leaving Skadden, Cohen began working part time as a strategic affairs coordinator for a small law firm created by former Winston & Strawn litigator Abbe Lowell to handle cases against the Trump administration. Her bio notes she is a former public school teacher, a Harvard law graduate and a former volunteer for progressive candidates and causes in Rhode Island.
Cohen says she is working part time “to ensure there was clear separation between the firm and my own personal organizing and advocacy, including things like this TikTok series.”
A former finance associate, Cohen can make money for videos that are longer than a minute. But she would need many more followers to make her income comparable to her paycheck at Skadden, she says.
“Most people who support themselves off social media do so through brands paying them to post content as opposed to streams,” she wrote. “Believe it or not, there’s not a huge market for anti-fascism branded content. (Though if you’re in it, feel free to reach out, my loans are still substantial!)”
Write a letter to the editor, share a story tip or update, or report an error.@cohen.489 URGENT CALL TO ACTION IN #CHICAGO ♬ original sound - Rachel Cohen
