The heat is getting turned up on DLA Piper. When partner Vanina Guerrero wrote an open letter to the leaders of the firm accusing a fellow partner, Louis Lehot, of sexual assault, she also asked the firm to release her from the mandatory arbitration agreement which is a condition of employment at DLA Piper. So far, the firm hasn’t responded to this request, but that silence hasn’t gone unnoticed.
Kamala Harris, who is married to DLA Piper partner Douglas Emhoff, weighed in on the subject in support of Guerrero’s right to go to court rather than confidential arbitration. And now a group of student activists organized as the People’s Parity Project (formerly the Pipeline Parity Project) have taken to the streets in front of three of DLA Piper’s offices to protest the firm’s use of mandatory arbitration agreements.
This isn’t the first time law school students have protested DLA over their arbitration agreements. An online campaign urged fellow law students to #DumpDLA and there were organized protests earlier this year. But with the attention currently focused on the firm, and a specific case and victim that wants to use the court system but is being barred from doing so, well, the time’s ripe to pound the pavement.
In their statement about the action, students focused on the harms of mandatory arbitration:
DLA Piper has been a longtime target of the People’s Parity Project for its refusal to end its policy of forced arbitration, but the firm has stood proudly behind the practice. Ms. Guererro’s account of the firm’s hostile environment is a powerful reminder of how important it is for workers to be able to hold corporations accountable. “We now know why firms like DLA Piper refuse to give up forced arbitration,” said Elisabeth Campbell, a 2L at New York University School of Law. “Forced arbitration enables bad actors to cover up and avoid accountability for their gross misconduct.”
And they intend to keep up the fight:
Grace Bennett, a 1L at Harvard Law School, said that law students showed up because we have the power to change the legal profession for the better. “Law firms like DLA Piper have shown that they won’t change their policies without a fight. They have to be forced to, and we have to keep showing up because people like Vanina Guerrero shouldn’t have to fight for their basic rights on the job.”
They’ve also started an online petition at coworker.org for others that want to amp up the pressure on DLA Piper.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).