Kasowitz was born in New Haven, Connecticut, to Robert and Felice Kasowitz. He has a fraternal twin brother, Stephen, and a younger sister, Susan. His family is Jewish. His father, Robert, ran a scrap metal business. Marc's paternal grandparents, Samuel and Rose Kasowitz, emigrated from Poland to Connecticut, where Samuel started the scrap business with a push cart. Robert and his brothers Milton and Harold helped grow it into a family business. On his mother's side of the family, his grandfather William Molaver also emigrated from Poland, and his grandmother's parents came from Russia. He attended Hopkins Grammar School in New Haven. He graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in American history and from Cornell Law School with a J.D.
Career
Kasowitz worked for the law firm Mayer Brown until 1993, when Kasowitz, 18 other lawyers, and two clients left Mayer Brown to establish the Kasowitz Benson Torres law firm. After the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, Kasowitz defended the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in a lawsuit filed by victims of the attack. In 2005, the Port Authority was ruled to be negligent. He has also defended Bill O'Reilly from allegations of sexual harassment, who was ultimately forced out at Fox News in April 2017.
Donald Trump
According to a May 23, 2017 article in Forward, Kasowitz, Benson, Torres, and Friedman has been a "go-to source" for Donald Trump for decades. He has represented Donald Trump in his divorce proceedings, bankruptcy cases, Trump University lawsuits, during the 2016 presidential campaign regarding sexual misconduct allegations, and during the Trump presidency in the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. In Spring 2017, Kasowitz told associates that he had been personally responsible for the abrupt dismissal of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara on March 11, 2017, having previously warned Trump, "This guy is going to get you". Kasowitz departed Trump's White House legal team on July 20, 2017.
In 2017, ProPublica reported that Kasowitz may be ineligible for a federal security clearance due to his alcohol abuse. After reading the articles, a currently unidentified individual sent an email to Kasowtiz urging him to "resign now." Kasowitz replied with a series of profanity-laced emails, some of which took a threatening tone, writing, "I'm on you now. You are fucking with me now Let's see who you are Watch your back, bitch," as well as "Call me. Don't be afraid, you piece of shit. Stand up. If you don't call, you're just afraid." And later: "I already know where you live, I'm on you. You might as well call me. You will see me. I promise. Bro." The emailer forwarded the emails to the Federal Bureau of Investigation to report the threats, and Kasowitz subsequently issued a statement saying "The person sending that email is entitled to his opinion, and I should not have responded in that inappropriate manner...This is one of those times where one wishes he could reverse the clock, but of course I can't."
Personal life
Kasowitz is married to Lori Kasowitz, whom he met while she was working as a manager at Mayer Brown. In 2001, they created the Marc E. and Lori A. Kasowitz Scholarship at Cornell Law School. In 2007, they pledged an additional $250,000 to the law school's endowment. He and his twin brother, Stephen, also established a scholarship at Hopkins Grammar School, which they attended growing up. In recent years, Marc and Lori Kasowitz have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican causes and to Donald Trump's presidential campaign. They have also donated to Democratic politicians in the past, including President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and Senators Chuck Schumer, and Harry Reid.
