Law Students Signing Pledge To Refuse Offers From Collaborating Biglaw Firms

As more Biglaw firms sell out their integrity in exchange for relief from illegal retaliation from the Trump administration, lawyers and clients are distancing themselves from the settling firms. Some law students have already walked away from recruiting efforts by these firms.

A pledge circulating among law schools gathers signatures from students willing to go on record that they won’t be joining firms that give in to the administration or those that try to squelch fully legal diversity initiatives just because the White House would like to pretend they aren’t.

Yesterday, the People’s Parity Project publicly announced a Law Student Firm Pledge that started among law school chapters of the organization, though signing on is certainly open to all law students.

Law students from People’s Parity Project chapters across the country have come together to call the legal profession to its greater ideals. From UCLA to Harvard, and Georgia State to the University of Chicago, students are calling for a more ethical legal profession. And the law students are not only pushing for an affirmation of basic legal principles, but for affirmative actions by firms to ensure the rule of law, such as firms joining amicus briefs in litigation against unconstitutional targeting of firms for specific legal stances or efforts to suborn firms into a fascist project to eliminate criticism of the regime.

In addition to “refus[ing] to work for any firm that gives in to Trump administration demands regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion or the types of cases handled by the firm,” the pledge adds four specific planks that firms need to meet:

1) Joining an amicus brief in opposition to Trump’s executive orders targeting law firms and lawyers,

2) Publicly refusing to audit or alter hiring practices that recognize the structural disadvantages that continue to prevent historically marginalized groups from entering the legal profession,

3) Publicly refusing to release personal information about firm employees or take any adverse action against employees in response to administration threats, and

4) Publicly committing to pro bono representation of individuals and groups targeted by the Trump administration.

So far, the Order of the Obsequious affirmatively giving in to Trump remains limited, but these additional asks implicate a lot more of Biglaw right now. That said, these are critical demands because standing up to the administration is almost as important as not caving. Indeed, settling firms have suggested that the lack of support from law firms keeping their heads down contributed to the decision to cave because the rest of the market tried to use the prospect of escaping Trump’s retribution as a partner poaching overture. Personally, I don’t buy it as an excuse… those same firms are now pitching “don’t you want to get out from under this stigma” to poach business so it was a fool’s gambit to believe signing on with Trump would slow down lateral recruiting.

But that doesn’t diminish the importance of encouraging a supportive Biglaw culture. Amicus briefs are often useless — if not unethical — but the cases challenging Trump’s attack on law firms are exactly where they’re valuable. Third parties explaining how the case impacts them uniquely, showing the widespread chaos that could arise if the case spins out beyond the caption. Hopefully, law students demonstrating that they aren’t going to let firms try to hide from this moment can incentivize Biglaw to do what all the other segments of the legal profession are doing and finally step up for their peer firms.

These students see themselves as the future of the legal profession and are not interested in facilitating authoritarian policies in the name of ideological diversity. They are committed to serving the people of this country, whether that places them in opposition to Trump’s government or not.

That last part is important. There are a lot of legal luminaries on the right willing to stand up to this administration even if they wouldn’t necessarily be in opposition to many Republican goals. Opposing the administration’s authoritarian efforts just isn’t a partisan issue at this point.

The form to sign is available here.

Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter or Bluesky if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

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