New Study Finds Most Law Firms Mum on Mandatory Arbitration for Summer Associates
At least five notable firms, including Cooley; Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear and Paul Hastings, will require their 2019 summer associate classes to agree to mandatory arbitration provisions, according to a new survey released Monday by students from the nation's top law schools. Nearly half of firms surveyed remained silent about whether they would ask their young talent to assent to such obligations.
June 11, 2018 at 09:00 AM
3 minute read
The original version of this story was published on The American Lawyer
made waves last month when they announced require law firms interviewing on campus to complete a survey and openly disclose whether they will require summer associates to submit to forced arbitration provisions and related nondisclosure agreements. On Monday, students from those law schools released the results of that survey, which found that, while many firms will not require their summer associates to sign arbitration agreements, some are still pushing such deals on their young legal talent . But perhaps more surprising was that of the nearly 400 law firms and legal organizations surveyed by students from 50 leading law schools, most firms chose not to respond. “Almost half of the firms who received the survey—nearly two hundred—have decided to hide behind a wall of secrecy,” said a statement from Molly Coleman, a rising second-year law student at Harvard Law School and one of the organizers of the campaign. “Especially in the #MeToo era, we are disheartened that they are unwilling to take a simple step to engage on this important issue.” Allen & Overy; Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft; DLA Piper; Faegre Baker Daniels; Kirkland & Ellis; Littler Mendelson; Nixon Peabody; Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart; Reed Smith; Seyfarth Shaw; Sidley Austin; and Squire Patton Boggs did not respond to the survey. Debate over the inclusion of increasingly controversial arbitration provisions for summer associates began either this year after former Jones Day associate and current HLS lecturer Ian Samuel tweeted that Munger, Tolles & Olson was requiring its summer associates to sign mandatory arbitration and nondisclosure agreements in their employment contracts. The firm quickly backtracked, announcing that it would be doing away with mandatory arbitration provisions and related nondisclosure agreements for its summer associates. Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom also quickly followed suit. But the fervor Samuel's tweet generated in light of the #MeToo movement prompted law students across the nation to petition their university's administrations to require employers recruiting on campus to do away with forced arbitration provisions. “Every law school's paramount responsibility is to ensure the well-being and safety of students before and after graduation,” said a statement from Ata Akiner , a third-year law student at the Georgetown University Law Center and a former trade analyst at Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle . , five firms—Cooley; Drinker Biddle & Reath; Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear; Paul Hastings; Stoel Rives and Varnum—said they would require their 2019 summer associate classes to be subject to mandatory arbitration provisions for employment-related disputes. (Click here for a complete list of firms and legal organizations that do not require their summer associates to sign forced arbitration agreements.)
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