A student coalition set up to hold the legal sector accountable for its contribution towards climate change has published its latest 'scorecard' rating the top 100 US firms - and urged lawyers to quit firms that score poorly. Several firms on the list have offices in London.

The Law Students for Climate Accountability’s scorecard ranks firms according to how much fossil fuel work they have engaged in over the past five years. The coalition says the latest scorecard, published this week, shows that its movement is working: fossil fuel transactions have slightly decreased and renewables transactions have increased. 

Its report says hundreds of law students have joined the call for climate accountability since the first scorecard was published in 2020. ‘Each law student has unique personal and financial circumstances that affect what actions they can take. Nevertheless, every student can take action to hold the legal industry accountable for exacerbating climate change.'

Students are 'encouraged' to reconsider working for a firm that scores poorly or pledge not to work at a firm that represents the fossil fuel industry.

Firms are urged to phase out representing fossil fuel companies in lobbying and transactions. In litigation, they should 'decline to take on cases that could result in further environmental injustices'. Firms currently representing fossil fuel clients should 'ensure employees have the opportunity to decline work that will perpetuate the climate crisis and harm frontline communities'.

The latest report also turns its attention to the UK and Ireland, in particular the lobbying work of law firms.  The report states: 'Lobbyists in the UK are governed by a patchwork of laws, and recent efforts to shore up the regulatory framework have been seen largely as failures. Particularly relevant here is the fact that lobbying disclosures are subject to a legal advice exception, obscuring the full scope of lawyers’ involvement in lobbying efforts.

'As a result, we are not able to gather any comprehensive information about law firms’ lobbying efforts in the UK. This is despite the fact that lawyers undeniably do engage in lobbying to a significant degree.’

Meanwhile, it is understood that climate protesters peacefully protested outside Linklaters' office briefly yesterday over the magic circle firm's fossil fuel work. 

In a statement, Linklaters said: 'We take our responsibilities with regard to the environment seriously and work hard to address our impact on climate change. As lawyers, we have a significant role to play in helping our clients navigate the changing legal and policy landscape and in supporting them as they ramp up their decarbonisation efforts and transform their businesses to transition to a low-carbon economy. Over the past ten years we have also succeeded in driving down our emissions associated with premises and travel and consumption of natural resources. We know that there is much more to be done on a global scale and we are fully committed to playing our part in reducing the impact of climate change and driving sustainable growth.'

 

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