In the less than 60 days since President Trump took office, his administration has made multiple threats against companies that continue with DEI initiatives, including an executive order targeting one of the largest law firms in the US. For now, though, it appears that America’s biggest law firms aren’t changing course, and one expert told HR Brew that it’s because they know their practices are lawful.
Catch up. Trump last week issued an executive order against the law firm Perkin Coie, in an attempt to strip its employees of security clearances and work with government contractors. The president cited the firm’s DEI practices, along with its work with Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, as the main reasons for the executive order.
Legal experts warned that Trump is setting a dangerous precedent by going after a private company, and on Mar. 12, a judge temporarily blocked the executive order, NPR reported. The US District Judge overseeing the case said the order “likely violates its [the firm’s] First, Fifth, and Sixth amendment rights.”
The judge said the order is meant to intimidate lawyers at Perkins Coie, which has already lost business and clients in the last week. “I am sure many in the legal profession are watching in horror about what Perkins Coie is going through here,” Judge Beryl Howell said.
Even before this executive order, the Trump administration had been trying to coerce companies into dismantling their DEI initiatives, HR Brew previously reported. Attorney General Pam Bondi, for example, has directed the Department of Justice to investigate private companies with DEI programming, and Trump has issued multiple executive orders targeting DEI; these are also being challenged in the courts.
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How law firms are reacting. While dozens of employers, from retail giant Walmart to tech companies like Meta, have been quick to erase mentions of or rebrand their DEI efforts, the biggest law firms in the country appear to be going in a different direction.
HR Brew examined the websites of the 15 largest US law firms, and found the majority still showcase their DEI initiatives. Just three—Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, and Sidley Austin—have removed DEI language, with all having made the change in the last few weeks, according to our analysis.
The other 12—including DLA Piper, Baker McKenzie, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom—prominently feature diversity and inclusion, and share evidence of their efforts, including employee resource groups, demographic data, and leadership programs.
“Just because an executive order says ‘illegal DEI’ practices does not deem DEI illegal,” Sheryl Daija, founder and CEO of the trade organization, BRIDGE, told HR Brew, noting that the executive orders do not negate the Civil Rights Act, other anti-discrimination laws or constitutional amendments. “Obviously, legal companies know that right. Law firms know that because they are much more familiar with constitutional law than any of us are.”