The movement for law firm human rights was born in 2011 with the insight that, like any other business, a firm has a responsibility under the U.N. Guiding Principles established by Harvard's John Ruggie. The cause gathered momentum with an early 2012 endorsement by the American Bar Association. And on July 24, the London nonprofit A4ID published its primer on how to handle your evil clients, "The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: A guide for the legal profession."
This is notably not a guide to when to drop a client, which would be called for "only in extremely exceptional circumstances." Withdrawal would forfeit the law firm's influence with the client — and the Ruggie framework is all about influencing companies. "In general, the Guiding Principles imply working with clients to reduce human rights risks," A4ID maintains, by using the law firm's "leverage."
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