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

Karen Sloan:

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will not interview for summer associate positions or work for Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison until the firm no longer represents the oil and gas giant.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?”