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Message: <blockquote data-quote="tosin4774" data-source="post: 207480" data-attributes="member: 35320">What does everyone think about this article from Law. com"Even before President Donald Trump ordered a probe into the DEI policies of about 15 "leading” law firms, law firms behind the scenes were already altering their DEI statements on the websites and adjusting their policies.As of Friday afternoon, the Trump administration had not indicated which 15 law firms will be targeted in the investigations of<a href="https://www.law.com/nationallawjournal/2025/03/06/trump-order-calls-for-dei-policy-review-of-leading-law-firms/" target="_blank"> firms' DEI policies</a>, announced Thursday.However, firms were not waiting for the names of those who would be investigated. The order pushed some law firms to carefully vet and adjust their websites, while others had already made changes. By Friday afternoon, several law firms appeared to change their diversity and DEI webpages to reflect new language that removed “diversity” from the focus.One law firm leader said their firm has been examining its internal policies and reviewing its website since Trump came into office. The leader said many top firms also did this and will continue to do it, especially after the order <a href="https://www.law.com/nationallawjournal/2025/03/06/-trump-goes-after-perkins-coie-in-latest-memo-targeting-a-law-firm/" target="_blank">announcing investigations </a>into law firms' DEI policies.<a href="https://directory.thecorporatelawacademy.com/profile/kirkland-ellis.20" target="_blank">Kirkland & Ellis</a> now has a webpage titled “Welcoming Environment” (the firm’s diversity and inclusion fellowship<a href="https://www.kirkland.com/content/diversity-and-inclusion-fellowship" target="_blank"> webpage</a> is also offline) and K&L Gates has a webpage titled “Opportunity & Inclusion,” describing the firm’s culture.<a href="https://directory.thecorporatelawacademy.com/profile/squire-patton-boggs.67" target="_blank">Squire Patton Boggs</a>; <a href="https://directory.thecorporatelawacademy.com/profile/paul-weiss-rifkind-wharton-garrison.26" target="_blank">Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison</a>; and <a href="https://directory.thecorporatelawacademy.com/profile/sidley-austin.12" target="_blank">Sidley Austin</a> also appear to have updated landing pages highlighting the firm’s "inclusion" or its culture. At <a href="https://directory.thecorporatelawacademy.com/profile/squire-patton-boggs.67" target="_blank">Squire</a>, what was formerly known as the “Global Office of DEI” appears to have been reframed as the “Global Workplace Culture and Development Leadership." A Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman webpage on diversity also appeared to be down Friday afternoon. None of the firms immediately responded to a request for comment.A second firm leader said that although they didn't believe their firm would be targeted due to not litigating against Trump in the past, Thursday's executive order still prompted the firm to take notice and review its DEI policies once again. "Somebody might knock on your door, or they might not," the firm leader said.Meanwhile, some lawyers considered the possibility of a band of firms coming together to challenge the investigations into firms’ DEI policies.Rima Sirota, a professor at Georgetown Law School, said she “would not be surprised to see a coalition of large law firms take legal action against the administration” in response to the latest executive order.“This [executive order] specifically puts other major firms in the cross hairs, and the EO demand—no vestige of ‘DEI’ practice—is probably impossible to comply with to the administration's satisfaction and will continue to hang over the law firms' heads should they ever represent a client whom the president dislikes,” Sirota said in an emailed comment.While firms appear to be making changes behind the scenes, some firm leaders stressed their commitment to DEI initiatives, even though they couldn't broadcast it.“While firms are re-examining their policies and websites to make sure they comply with the law, they are not abandoning their efforts to provide everyone an equal opportunity to succeed and to level the playing field,” a firm leader said.Robert Hicks, chairman and managing partner of Taft, indicated that the firm “does not blow with the political winds,” adding that they “watch them, but it doesn’t dictate how we run our firms.”"We are absolutely an inclusive law firm in all regards," Hicks said. "That's not just limited to racial or ethnic or gender or LGBTQ. We are a better law firm by including a broad set of demographics and viewpoints."Diversity consultant of Paradigm Joelle Emerson said that many Big Law firms already adjusted their DEI programming in the wake of the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action and the series of lawsuits against firms that followed.In the wake of Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard—the Supreme Court decision that ruled race-based affirmative action in college admissions to be unlawful—SFFA litigant Edward Blum sent legal threats and filed lawsuits over law firm diversity fellowships that Blum believed to be discriminatory against straight white men. Blum ultimately dropped lawsuits against <a href="https://directory.thecorporatelawacademy.com/profile/perkins-coie.50" target="_blank">Perkins Coie</a>, <a href="https://directory.thecorporatelawacademy.com/profile/winston-strawn.73" target="_blank">Winston & Strawn</a> and Morrison & Foerster after the firms offered to open their diversity fellowships to all applicants.“The idea that firms are engaging in widespread unlawful practices simply doesn’t align with what I’ve seen in the private sector,” Emerson said.While it’s not surprising that firms are making further adjustments in the wake of the executive order against Perkins, Emerson said, she also cautioned firms against an overcorrection where they scale back initiatives that have been ensuring “fair, merit-based decision-making.”Christine Simmons contributed to this report."</blockquote>

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