That Purpose-Driven Law Firm - The Business of Public Stances about SCOTUS Abortion Ruling

 With the intensifying of the ESG movement the spotlight has been on the public stances corporate leaders take on values issues. That situation, as played out with Disney, can be perilous. Currently the Disney board will decide if Disney chief executive officer Bob Chapek will have his contract renewed. It has nine more months to go. But, who knows, Chapek could already be on short time. 

Now, as Reuters Legal reports, the leaders of law firms are in that kind of public relations pickle. That is as a result of the SCOTUS ruling essentially gutting "Roe v Wade." The media center describes it as walking a "tightrope." That might turn out to be an understatement.

With the exception of Morrison & Foerster, no other law firm has addressed this with a public statement. Some, such as Brad Karp, chairperson at Paul Weiss, did issue an internal memo indicating dissatisfaction with the decision. That was it. 

Here is the reality: In terms of client relations any official public opinion on the SCOTUS decision can represent a serious threat to business.  Some clients might hail the SCOUTUS ruling as one of those right things to do in terms of values. Yes, this represents a version of the play-out of ESG. A law firm, just like all professional services, has to be client-centric. That's called Taking Care of Business. In my own client relations I am apolitical. 

In the legal sector, there are those of us who vividly recall Karp himself predicting this kind of development unfolding.

In an interview with Bloomberg Law Karp warned law firms that they, just as their clients, would be caught up in the conflicts over ESG values. The iconic example at that time had been how Mayer Brown got scooped up into global controversy and a potential business boycott related to its representation of Hong Kong University. The issue had been removal of a memorial about the Tiananmen Square massacre. 

Now the issue is abortion for most law firms in the US. The values involve much of the ideological polarization throughout America. Clients may be all over that political, social, and moral spectrum.

A progressive law firm can and does represent those clients whose belief system is right of center. Already there has been a high-profile unraveling about that. That happened last week when Kirkland & Ellis stopped representing second-amendment clients. As yet, most of us  don't know what shoes could drop on that. There is the risk that PEP could suffer and there could be partner flight.

Operating a law firm is a business. That business has noble window-dressing. The law firm is purpose-driven to uphold the legal system and support justice. Many jump through all the hoops to practice law for those idealistic reasons. But, soon enough they get it that the purpose-driven profession is, yes, a business. 

During the next several months - maybe years as SCOTUS makes more controversial rulings - law firms could go through soul-wrenching times on where they stand on issues. Their leaders, just like Disney's Chapek, can find themselves embattled. 

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