Gibson Dunn Sign-On Letter
Dear Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher,

We are law students deeply concerned about Gibson Dunn’s record of furthering climate change and environmental injustice. We call on Gibson Dunn to commit to a publicly available ethical standard that articulates what fossil fuel work is incompatible with their commitments to frontline communities and to the climate.

As young people, we worry about our own futures and those of future generations as we speed towards a climate catastrophe that will disproportionately harm communities of color, Indigenous communities, and low-income communities. As law students, we are thinking critically about the power we will hold as attorneys and the deep responsibilities that come with that power. And, for those of us who are members of impacted communities, we see the harm that the climate crisis has already caused on our land, waters, and communities.

Gibson Dunn has consistently and actively used its legal skills to advance the interests of high-paying companies that cause immense harm to the climate and frontline communities, particularly Indigenous communities. Gibson Dunn has represented Dakota Access despite significant environmental impacts and its incursion on sacred Sioux land. Likewise, Gibson Dunn has aggressively litigated to ensure Chevron evades liability for dumping billions of gallons of toxic waste in Ecuador. The plaintiffs who challenged Chevron, including members of five Amazonian tribes, have received no compensation for the cancer, birth defects, and irreversible environmental damage they have faced. Gibson Dunn has even targeted the plaintiffs’ lawyer.

These two cases are part of a much larger pattern of representation of clients who consistently disregard both Indigenous rights and the pressing urgency of the climate crisis. The 2020 Law Firm Climate Change Scorecard found that Gibson Dunn conducted the second most anti-climate litigation of any law firm; the firm proudly states on its website that it advises "the world’s leading oil and gas exploration, development and production companies.” Additionally, Gibson Dunn represents a plaintiff in Brackeen v. Bernhardt, a lawsuit seeking to strike down the Indian Child Welfare Act, a vital law protecting against the removal of American Indian children from their communities.

Gibson Dunn’s pattern of representation suggests that there is no ethical standard guiding its work, with profit consistently overriding pressing issues of justice. We are left to wonder if there is any case Gibson Dunn would not take on.

We call on Gibson Dunn to commit to a publicly available ethical standard that articulates its protocol for representation of the fossil fuel industry. Diversity programs, pro bono, and in-office sustainability are all welcome but are insufficient as long as Gibson Dunn continues to perpetrate immense harm through its work for paying clients. There must be a line that Gibson Dunn will not cross.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Signed,

Law Students for Climate Accountability
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