US president Donald Trump has continued his attack on the legal sector with leading law firms being ordered to show they are not discriminating through their diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
The federal government's US Equal Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has written to 20 firms requesting information about equality practices. The list includes A&O Shearman, Hogan Lovells and Freshfields – as well as global firm Perkins Coie which was last week made subject to an executive order restricting its access to government work.
The latest move has prompted the International Bar Association to condemn what it calls the 'ongoing erosion of the rule of law'.
The EEOC says it has concerns that some firms’ DEI practices may entail unlawful treatments based on race, sex or other protected characteristics in violation of the Civil Rights Act 1964. That legislation prohibits an employer from discriminating against individuals or from limiting, segregating, or classifying employees based on race, sex, or other protected characteristics to deprive them of employment opportunities.
‘The EEOC is prepared to root out discrimination anywhere it may rear its head, including in our nation’s elite law firms,' said acting chair Andrea Lucas. ‘No one is above the law—and certainly not the private bar.’
The full list of firms written to is:
- A & O Shearman
- Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
- Cooley LLP
- Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP
- Goodwin Procter LLP
- Hogan Lovells LLP
- Kirkland & Ellis LLP
- Latham & Watkins LLP
- McDermott Will & Emery
- Milbank LLP
- Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
- Morrison & Foerster LLP
- Perkins Coie
- Reed Smith
- Ropes & Gray LLP
- Sidley Austin LLP
- Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP
- Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
- White & Case LLP
- WilmerHale
The letters have been sent amid a backdrop of the Trump administration seeking to end government support for diversity programmes. The president signed an order on his first day in office directing federal agencies to terminate all ‘equity-related’ grants or contracts, although this has since been challenged in US courts.
Meanwhile, Trump has issued an executive order barring a third firm from government work over its past clients. Trump accused Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP (known as Paul Weiss) of hiring an ‘unethical attorney’ formerly with the Manhattan District Attorney’s office to manufacture a prosecution against him relating to the riots on 6 January 2021.
The president also accused Paul Weiss of discriminating against its own employees on the basis of race and other categories prohibited by civil rights laws, adding: ‘Paul Weiss, along with nearly every other large, influential, or industry leading law firm, makes decisions around “targets” based on race and sex.
‘My administration is committed to ending such unlawful discrimination perpetrated in the name of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” policies and ensuring that Federal benefits support the laws and policies of the United States.’
Trump directed that all government contracts with Paul Weiss be terminated and security clearances held by its employees be immediately suspended.
The IBA, the world's largest legal professional body, yesterday expressed 'deep concern' over developments in the US. In a statement, it said: 'Recent attacks by the US administration on the judiciary, the legal profession, and the media - each a vital pillar of democracy - have created a chilling effect both domestically and internationally. As a global leader, the US must uphold these fundamental principles, which are essential to democracy and the rule of law.'
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