Supporting the School That Supported Them

On a mid-January night 20 years ago, Karen Pape and Scott Luftglass met at a party their 2L classmate Jason Levin was hosting. The pair hit it off and arranged a follow-up date for the next night … and every other day for the rest of the semester. Engaged months later, in their third years, the rest is shared history for the 2004 graduates.

A recent development in that shared history is their creation of the Karen and Scott Luftglass ’04 Unrestricted Endowment. “UVA Law is such a foundational part of each of our lives separately and of the life we have built together,” Karen said. “As lawyers, we would not have accomplished what we have in our careers without the North Star that is the Law School and its focus on collaboration, teamwork, and emotional intelligence.”

“And as a family,” Scott added, “the school occupies a special place for us—where we first met and fell in love. We view it as the most natural thing in the world to give back to the Law School wherever we can, whether donating our time or providing financial support.” 

While each has made a point of making annual gifts, they saw creating the fund as an opportunity to support the school at a higher level during the Honor the Future Campaign.

The unrestricted nature of the fund was appealing. “That feature reflects our unwavering confidence in the leadership of the Law School and the Law School Foundation. That leadership, in our view, has earned the right to make specific allocation decisions,” Scott said.

Dean Risa Goluboff often extols the impact unrestricted gifts have at the Law School. “Unrestricted funds are critical. They provide me (and deans to come) the flexibility to address our greatest needs, now and into the future,” she said. “I am especially touched by Karen and Scott's generous philanthropy and their dedication to the Law School as they both were part of the first UVA Law class I taught,” Goluboff said.

After graduating from the Law School, each started their litigation practices in New York City—Karen with Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, and Scott with Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz. Karen moved to Davis Polk & Wardwell in 2006, where she practiced until joining the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority in 2012. In 2014, she left practice after having their daughter, Quinn.

Scott joined Karen at Davis Polk in 2007, where he practiced for nearly ten years before joining Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson in 2016, where he co-heads the firm’s Securities and Shareholder Litigation Practice.

“More than anything, the overall UVA Law School community and culture meaningfully shaped not only our careers but also our growth as young adults and professionals,” Scott said. “UVA fosters such a collaborative atmosphere, emphasizing how to treat other people as much as learning the law or how to problem solve, and that ethos plays an enormous role in our lives.”

Karen added, “It’s that unique ethos that, in our view, is UVA’s comparative advantage over peer schools and why we feel it so important to give back wherever we can as alumni.”

Scott and Karen anticipate being involved with the Law School, in many ways, for years to come. “We hope the future of the Law School closely resembles its past—focusing on fostering a collaborative, inclusive, and safe environment for young adults to learn about the law, about themselves, and how to transition into the role of effective young professionals,” Karen said.

“We marvel at the accomplishments of our classmates—in government service, private practice, pro bono endeavors, and business after exiting the law,” Scott said. “The Law School creates an environment to help all of us become the best versions of ourselves, and we hope and trust that that continues to be the case for years to come.”

Honoring their own history, the couple celebrate the anniversary of their mid-January introduction and visit the Law School with their two children every year.