The top 100 legal firms in the United States “are accelerating the climate crisis” through their litigation, transactions, and lobbying on behalf of polluters, according to a first-ever report of its kind released Thursday by a newly launched law student organization.

“Our research is the first to expose the broad extent of firms’ role in driving the climate crisis.”
—Alisa White, Law Students for Climate Accountability

Members of Law Students for Climate Accountability analyzed of tens of thousands of recent legal actions by the Vault Law 100 firms for the 2020 Law Firm Climate Change Scorecard, which grades firms A to F based on their work for fossil fuel clients from 2015 to 2019.

“Law firms write the contracts for fossil fuel projects, lobby to weaken environmental regulations, and help fossil fuel companies evade accountability in court,” Alisa White, a Yale Law School student and lead author of the report, said in a statement. “Our research is the first to expose the broad extent of firms’ role in driving the climate crisis.”https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?creatorScreenName=commondreams&creatorUserId=14296273&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1311720779537625091&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2F2020%2F10%2F01%2Ffirst-ever-analysis-reveals-how-americas-top-100-law-firms-are-accelerating-climate&siteScreenName=commondreams&siteUserId=14296273&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=550px

As the student group’s […]