Report Finds Top Law Firms Shifting from Fossil Fuel Work to Renewables Focus

Amidst a surge in student activism, Law Students for Climate Accountability (LSCA) is releasing its 2024 Law Firm Climate Change Scorecard, marking the fifth annual report on the Vault 100’s connections to fossil fuels. Each edition of the Scorecard has underscored the legal industry’s significant role in enabling the fossil fuel sector to consolidate power and evade accountability. Meanwhile, climate change relentlessly impacts vulnerable communities and the environment.

For the first time, LSCA is publishing a multinational report shedding additional light on the roles of large firms in the U.K. and Ireland. The data shows that after years of mounting pressure, Vault 100 firms have begun to make marginal progress. This year, the report notes a decrease in Vault 100 firms’ transactional work and lobbying on behalf of fossil fuel companies.

“As we launch the Scorecard, we are more committed than ever to exposing the legal industry’s role in perpetuating climate injustice,” said Sean Torres, a rising 3L at CUNY School of Law. “This year’s Scorecard, our most comprehensive yet, expands our scrutiny to the U.K. market and highlights incremental progress and ongoing challenges. Recent regulatory decisions, like FERC denying a hydroelectric project on Navajo Nation lands and New York’s Third Department halting a natural gas facility under the CLCPA, reflect the evolving legal landscape and a cultural understanding towards a more livable future. As regulations evolve to address the climate crisis, the legal industry must also change with the times for the betterment of our future.” 

A new high of seven firms received an A ranking for 2024. In addition to a decrease in fossil fuel transaction work, the data shows that firms are growing their renewable energy practices, though still alongside very sizable fossil fuel practices:

• From 2019-2023, Vault 100 firms facilitated $2.89 trillion in fossil fuel transactions, engaged in 518 instances of climate-exacerbating representation, and received $32.97 million in compensation for lobbying on behalf of fossil fuel interests.
• Overall, the Vault 100 firms facilitated about $121 billion less (4.02%) in fossil fuel transactions in the 2019-2023 data collection period than in the 2018-2022 data collection period. The Vault 100 also received approximately $1.4 million less (4.09%) in lobbying compensation in the 2019-2023 data collection period.
• Despite the marginal decrease in fossil fuels work, Vault 100 firms facilitated about $178 billion more (20.17%) in renewable energy transactions than in the prior data collection period, conducting transactions worth a total of $878 billion. However, these transactions still pale in comparison to the $2.89 trillion in fossil fuel transactions facilitated by the Vault 100 from 2019-2023.
• Many of the firms undertaking the most substantial amounts of fossil fuels work have not slowed down even as they ramp up their renewable energy practices. Akin Gump, for example, received the most compensation for fossil fuel-related lobbying from 2018-2022 ($7.1 million), and in this year’s dataset spanning 2019-23, received nearly one million dollars more in compensation ($7.9 million), while increasing its renewable energy industry lobbying by nearly 60%.
• Even more firms earned F grades, which firms can earn by doing at least one of the following: 
  1. Earning more than 30 involvement points for cases furthering climate change;
  2. Facilitating more than $40 billion in fossil fuel transactions; or
  3. Receiving more than $2 million in compensation for fossil fuel lobbying. 

• In all, 42 firms managed to perform the extraordinary amount of fossil fuel work necessary to receive an F, while a further 34 earned D grades.

LSCA’s Scorecard also comes as students nationwide engage in robust political demonstration and activism, demonstrating that this generation of new legal professionals are more than willing to make decisions following their values. Law students continue to hold the power to punish those firms by opting to work for a competitor with a better track record on climate. It is time for the Vault 100 firms to join those advocates and invest their resources into a more sustainable future — with students leading the way.

“The latest Law Students for Climate Accountability report should be a wake-up call for the legal industry––the issue of the planet-wrecking emissions they enable isn’t going away,” said Vinod Aithal, Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) student, London Metropolitan University. “While some firms are moving in a positive direction, too many still aren’t doing enough. We hope this report helps students make informed choices about the paths they will take. Lower-scoring firms need to take notice of how their ranking appears to the talent pool and implement the necessary changes to safeguard our planet for the next generation.”

The Scorecard calls on law firms to phase out their work for the fossil fuel industry and seeks to provide support to law students and lawyers who are concerned about the climate crisis. Law firms have faced increasing pressure over their work for fossil fuel clients in recent years. Students protested four Paul Weiss recruitment receptions in early 2020 and over 600 students have pledged to boycott the firm as long as it represents Exxon. 

This spring, Law Students for Climate Accountability documented a sitting Supreme Court Justice’s ties with fossil fuel companies and highlighted the Vault 100’s impact on local communities. This comes at a crucial juncture as climate litigation movements have increasingly reaffirmed their power within courtrooms and collected significant victories across the globe.

As students return to campuses this year, on the heels of an increase in organizing across the nation and yet another record-breaking hot summer, law students are preparing to increase pressure on firms who refuse to adopt an ethical standard for their work and end their contribution to the climate crisis.

The report can be viewed at ls4ca.org/scorecard. 

Law Students for Climate Accountability is an organization of law students from across the country who are committed to holding the legal industry accountable for its role in the climate crisis. For more information, visit www.ls4ca.org.