When news broke that a Biglaw firm was trying to get its incoming summer associates to sign mandatory arbitration agreements — agreements that would have required them to arbitrate all employment-related claims, including sexual harassment claims — many were outraged. Amid heavy criticism, the firm quickly backtracked, withdrawing its arbitration agreement not just for summer associates, but for all employees. But how many other firms intended to force students to arbitrate their sexual harassment claims? Several major firms have already dropped such clauses from their employment contracts for summer associates, but countless firms have allowed similar arbitration agreements to lurk in the darkness.

Thanks to student advocacy and an alliance between the nation’s top law schools, those arbitration agreements are about to see the light of day in the #MeToo era.

Today, Yale Law School sent a survey letter on behalf of all T14 law schools to every law firm recruiting on their campuses, asking that the firms disclose whether they require summer associates to sign mandatory arbitration agreements and nondisclosure agreements related to workplace misconduct, including but not limited to sexual harassment. Firms will also be asked to provide information regarding their policies for responding to workplace misconduct. On June 8, 2018, the results of this inquiry will be made available to students at all participating law schools so they can decide where they’d like to interview and where they’d like to start their careers.

We asked Molly Coleman, a rising second-year student at Harvard Law who’s part of the unified T14 campaign to address sexual harassment and discrimination in the legal profession, how the schools plan to address the situation if firms say they do require summer associates to sign such mandatory arbitration agreements. Will certain firms be banned from recruiting law students across the entirety of the T14?

It’s not yet totally clear what the immediate next steps will be if firms disclose that they do require these agreements to be signed. We’ll be pushing for a requirement that all firms who recruit on campus drop them from their contracts entirely, but our sense in talking to the administration is that their immediate approach will vary based on the number of firms that hold onto them. Since nobody seems to have a clear sense of how many firms this is going to end up being, I don’t think anybody’s plans are totally locked down. Ultimately, our position is that while information disclosure is necessary, it can’t be the final step. Having the information out there without changing campus recruitment policies puts the burden on women and other marginalized groups to choose between either (1) opting out of professional opportunities that their peers feel comfortable accepting, or (2) accepting job offers knowing that they have signed away their rights should they experience harassment or discrimination. Because neither of these is an acceptable outcome, we’ll be continuing our push for an across-the-board requirement of all firms recruiting on campus.

We knew that time was running out for Biglaw, and it seems as if the final grain of sand in the hourglass may soon be falling thanks to student advocates who want to put a stop to this generational issue in the legal profession. Congratulations to every single one of our nation’s top law schools for standing up for what’s right. We hope other law schools sign on to support these new transparency measures.

How many other Biglaw firms are forcing law students to sign agreements like this, sending disputes into private tribunals beyond the prying eyes of the media or courts? How many law students have been bound to suffer in silence in the face of sexual harassment? If you know of any other law firms that require their summers to submit to antiquated agreements like this, please email us at or text us at (646) 820-8477. We’ve received several thus far, and may discuss them soon. Thank you for your help.

Staci Zaretsky has been an editor at Above the Law since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.