Two environmental groups have staged a “climate crisis exhibition” outside the London offices of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and A&O Shearman in criticism of the firms’ prominent oil and gas clients.

Members of the groups Lawyers Are Responsible (LAR) and Fossil Free London stood outside the law firms’ offices in Bishops Square displaying photos of flood victims.

In a statement, LAR described Akin and A&O Shearman as “fossil fuel industry enablers”.

Lawyers Are Responsible (LAR) is made up of a group of lawyers campaigning for law firms to cut their ties to the fossil fuel industry, while Fossil Free London describes itself as a group that uses “direct action, creative stunts, disruption and protest to target key fossil fuel corporations and banks”.

Bishop's Square, 13th November 2024. Photo: Lawyers are Responsible.

The photographs displayed by members of the two groups were taken from a collection entitled ‘Drowning World’ by the photographer Gideon Mendel, which looks at the global impact of flooding.

LAR highlighted the fact that Akin and A&O Shearman had both received the worst possible rating of ‘F’ in a recent report by the group Law Students for Climate Accountability on law firms that take on fossil fuel related work.

The report found that A&O Shearman had advised on just under $300 billion worth of fossil-fuel transactions between 2019 and 2023. Meanwhile, the report also found that Akin had received $7.92 million from fossil fuel lobbying over the same period.

Joanna Warrington, a campaigner at Fossil Free London said: “Lawyers here are raking in millions by defending the corporations wrecking our planet. They're not just complicit—they’re profiting from climate disaster while the world’s most vulnerable pay the price.”

Akin and A&O Shearman did not provide a comment by the time of publication.