Law students with the People's Parity Project distributed leaflets outside of DLA Piper's Washington office on Thursday.

A law student-led campaign against DLA Piper over the firm's use of mandatory arbitration ratcheted up Thursday with a sidewalk confrontation and threats to call the police.

A women from DLA Piper's Washington office told student protesters that the firm was calling the police on them as they distributed leaflets outside, according to students who were present and who characterized the women's comments as heated. Police did not show up on the scene.

A DLA Piper spokesman did not offer any comment on the incident Thursday nor clarified who was involved, but reiterated an earlier statement that mandatory arbitration has been a "fair and efficient way to resolve internal disputes" that "benefits all parties" when sensitive matters are involved.

The student action—organized by the People's Parity Project, a national organization dedicated to ending mandatory arbitration in Big Law and every industry—was one of three targeting DLA Piper on Thursday. About 20 students participated in the protests Thursday, with about a dozen in Washington. Protesters also gathered outside the firm's offices in Boston and New York. The group has been pushing DLA Piper to ditch mandatory arbitration since November 2018, but a recent complaint lodged against the firm has placed even more attention on its internal practices.

Junior partner Vanina Guerrero has filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging that the co-managing partner of the firm's Silicon Valley office—Louis Lehot—sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions after he recruited her to join the firm in 2018. Guerrero this month released an open letter to the firm's co-chairs, asking to be released from its mandatory arbitration agreement.

"Obviously, they are under increasing pressure right now with this law suit by Vanina Guerrero," said Molly Coleman, a Harvard law student and leader of the People's Parity Project, who was present at the Washington action. "It definitely seems like they are worried about this in a way they weren't even a few months ago. They obviously were outraged that we were informing both their own employees, potential clients, and people on the street about what they are doing. They benefit from silence, and they don't like that we're making waves about this."

Coleman said the protesters remained on a public sidewalk and were confident that they were not violating any laws during their hour-long action.

The student group, which has chapters at eight law schools, launched its campaign against law firms using mandatory arbitration last fall, encouraging law students to boycott summer associate interviews with firms known to require attorneys and employees to sign such agreements. DLA Piper did not respond to a query about whether fewer law students requested summer associate interviews during the August and September hiring cycle.

But Coleman said she believes the group's efforts are changing how law students view the firm. Kirkland & Ellis and Sidley Austin each did away with mandatory arbitration after the People's Parity Project launched its campaign last year.

"DLA Piper is one of very few law firms that is clinging to forced arbitration," Coleman said. "It was maybe a dozen or less according to the most recent survey data from Harvard. People have other choices. You see the horrific allegation from Vanina Guerrero, and people are starting to connect the dots of, 'Oh, she can be sexually assaulted at work and not be able to bring that in front of a judge?' There is something about that that makes it horrifyingly real for people and contributed to the sense of, 'Why would you want to work there?'"