Donald Trump wasn’t lying when he said he was going after Biglaw. The onslaught continues with 20 Biglaw firms receiving letters from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Acting Chair Andrea Lucas informing them they’re being investigated by the agency.
Lucas writes the agency is “concern[ed] that some firms’ employment practices, including those labeled or framed as DEI, may entail unlawful disparate treatment in terms, conditions, and privileges of employment, or unlawful limiting, segregating, and classifying based on race, sex, or other protected characteristics, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII).” All because the firm has at any point made public statements or programs in support of diversity in the profession.
The following firms have received letters from the EEOC thus far:
1. A & O Shearman
2. Debevoise & Plimpton
3. Cooley
4. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
5. Goodwin Procter
6. Hogan Lovells
7. Kirkland & Ellis
8. Latham & Watkins
9. McDermott Will & Emery
10. Milbank
11. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
12. Morrison & Foerster
13. Perkins Coie
14. Reed Smith
15. Ropes & Gray
16. Sidley Austin
17. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
18. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
19. White & Case
20. WilmerHale
Notably Paul, Weiss is not on the list of Biglaw firms that have been notified of an EEOC investigation, despite the recent Executive Order targeting the firm for a bunch of reasons including their support of DEI. I guess their letter will be in the next tranche to drop — because Trump’s fight with the legal industry is far from over.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @[email protected].
