Kirkland & Ellis Backs Off Mandatory Arbitration for Staffers
Law student activists combating mandatory arbitration in Big Law have notched another win, but it's uncertain whether the firm will abolish the policy for partners.
December 07, 2018 at 02:55 PM
4 minute read
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Nonattorney employees at Kirkland & Ellis will no longer be required to sign mandatory arbitration agreements, amid pressure from law students who say such arrangements disproportionately hurt women and minorities.
“The Firm Committee has now also determined to extend that policy so that the Firm will no longer require arbitration of any employment disputes that may be brought by any employee who is not an attorney,” reads in internal firm memo obtained by Law.com. (A law firm spokesman did not respond to a request for comment Friday on the change.)
Kirkland's reversal on mandatory arbitration on Thursday for nonattorneys comes three weeks after it did away with such agreements for summer associates and associates, and a month after students at Harvard Law School's Pipeline Parity Project called on classmates to boycott the firm during the upcoming summer associate recruiting season. The group says that the agreements are coercive and eliminate the ability of employees to sue over workplace violations such as harassment and discrimination.
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