Biglaw Firm Under Attack (Again) By Law School Students Who've Had Enough With Mandatory Arbitration

Law students aren't going to let the firm sweep the issue under the rug.

The fight over the use of mandatory arbitration agreements at Biglaw firms continues. A group of Harvard Law student activists, organized as the Pipeline Parity Project (PPP), have kept the heat on Biglaw firms over their use of the agreements. Yesterday, these law students organized a protest — again — against one of the firms, Venable, that seems hell-bent on keeping mandatory arbitration agreements.

As PPP notes, the protest was organized during a Venable recruiting event, designed to get elite law students interested in the firm:

On Tuesday, Venable LLP thought it was holding a recruiting reception for first-year law students in Washington, DC. But their efforts to woo prospective associates may have backfired, since the Pipeline Parity Project took the opportunity to educate our fellow law students about the firm’s deceptive forced arbitration policy.

Law students from several schools joined together to educate our peers about how Venable’s forced arbitration policy threatens their civil rights—by leafleting on the sidewalk outside Venable’s DC office as prospective associates entered for a reception.

This is the second time protestors have taken to the streets outside Venable. They also let it be known that they will continue their protests just as long as the mandatory arbitration agreements are in force at the firm:

“If Venable doesn’t drop forced arbitration, it won’t be the last either,” said Beth Feldstein, a second-year student at Harvard Law School.

The practice of mandatory arbitration agreements in Biglaw came under fire when Munger Tolles was called out on social media for the practice last year. That firm changed their policy as a result, and other firms voluntarily did away with the practice. Others required some good, old-fashioned pressure, but eventually eliminated the agreements. But, of course, there have been some firms that have held fast, despite complaints, including Venable.

Venable’s position on the agreements is particularly notable because the firm only adopted the policy after the controversy over mandatory arbitration had begun. Last summer, a survey was sent to Biglaw firms on behalf of T14 law schools. In response to that inquiry, Venable said the incoming summer associate class would not have to sign mandatory arbitration agreements. However, only a few weeks later, the firm reversed course.

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And as revealed in social media, the firm’s quick change on mandatory arbitration is definitely fueling the protestors’ ire at the firm.


headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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