First Harvard, Now Yale. Law Students Want Paul Weiss to #DropExxon

Following up on my previous post, Harvard Law Students Urge Boycott Of Paul Weiss To Force Law Firm To Drop ExxonMobil As A Client:  Karen Sloan (Law.com), First Harvard, Now Yale. Law Students Want Paul Weiss to #DropExxon:

Students from two of the county’s most elite law schools have banded together to launch a national campaign to pressure Paul Weiss to drop ExxonMobil as a client.

A group of Harvard and Yale law students are asking counterparts at other law schools to sign a pledge that they will not interview for summer associate positions or work for Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison until the firm no longer represents the oil and gas giant. They say the firm’s representation of Exxon in a series of climate change lawsuits makes it complicit in the planet’s destruction.

“As future lawyers, we have a choice,” the pledge reads. “Will we commit ourselves to enabling corporations to continue putting human civilization at risk of climate catastrophe? Or will we dedicate our careers to making a positive impact in our communities and helping build a more just and sustainable future?”

The #DropExxon organizers are also encouraging students at other law schools to protest the firm at its recruiting events, which typically target first-year students and are intended to encourage them to interview with the firm during the on-campus interview season at the start of their second year. ...

n a prepared statement, Paul Weiss chairman Brad Karp stood by the firm’s work for Exxon. “We are proud of the outstanding work we do for a wide range of commercial and pro bono clients in their most challenging and high-profile matters, including our recent defense of ExxonMobil in a securities fraud case in which the court found, after trial, that plaintiff’s claims were entirely without merit,” Karp said. “Paul, Weiss is committed to free speech and debate, just as we are committed to the principle that we represent our clients and safeguard the rule of law zealously and to the best of our abilities.”