Law Students for Climate Accountability release 2021 Climate Scorecard
The Law Students for Climate Accountability (LSCA) have released an updated Law Firm Climate Change Scorecard for 2021. Switzer Fellow Camila Bustos is co-founder of LSCA, and Switzer Fellow AJ Hudson is on the 2021-2022 LSCA Board.
The 2021 Scorecard identifies that America's most prestigious law firms have expanded their fossil fuel work. "Data over a five-year window reveal a startling trend among Vault 100 firms.
- The top firms facilitated a stunning $1.36 trillion in fossil fuel transactions, increasing the top 100’s total by $50 billion from last year’s report;
- These firms also litigated even more cases on behalf of fossil fuel clients, bringing the total from 275 representations to 358; and
- Even more firms earned F grades, which requires a firm to do 8+ cases exacerbating climate change, support over $20 billion in fossil fuel transactions or receive over $2 million for fossil fuel lobbying. 10 more firms joined the F class. In all, 36 firms managed to perform the extraordinary amount of fossil fuel work necessary to fail."
LSCA has three goals for the 2021 report. First, it provides law students and young lawyers with a resource when deciding on their current and future employment. Second, they hope it will spur change in the Vault 100 firms themselves. Finally, the report calls on the clients of Vault 100 firms to ensure their legal representation is committed to fighting the global climate crisis.
Find the report and learn more about LSCA here.
