The Law Gazette writes..
On a rainy day in February 2020, a group of Extinction Rebellion campaigners wearing hazmat suits lay on the pavement in front of Slaughter and May’s London office. The soggy scene was staged in protest against the firm’s decision to represent fossil fuel companies, namely energy giant Premier Oil.
Next week, the climate group is expected to target the legal sector again, claiming that City firms are ‘critical enablers of the carbon economy’ and are ‘knowingly investing in the destruction of the conditions which make the planet habitable’.
With their drums, loudspeakers and grungy headbands, Extinction Rebellion protesters are the antithesis of corporate London. However, the questions they raise are starting to be discussed in boardrooms across the City. In short, should law firms who want to act responsibly be representing – and profiting from – some of the world’s biggest carbon emitters?
Professor Paul Watchman, a former Freshfields partner and advisory board chair for Lawyers for Net Zero, says firms need to be more discerning when it comes to picking clients. ‘Law firms can say they expect their clients to have certain values – because clients are saying it to the law firms now.’
‘We’re not asking them to dump their clients on day one – but maybe don’t accept instructions that relate to building a coal fired power station in China,’ he adds. ‘And a big thing they could do is stop their clients litigating on climate change.’
