Trump: Global law firms have undermined judicial process
President Trump has attacked the role of “global law firms” as 20 top practices – including leading London names – are targeted in the US over diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) related employment practices.
A&O Shearman, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Hogan Lovells are among those in the firing line in the latest assault on the legal profession by the administration.
As we reported last week, Perkins Coie, which acted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, was the subject of an executive order signed by the president, followed last Friday by Paul Weiss; both seek to isolate the firms from any contact or work with the federal government.
According to the latter, in 2021 a Paul Weiss partner brought a pro bono suit against individuals alleged to have taken part in the January 6 riot, and the following year the firm rehired a former partner who had worked at the Manhattan District Attorney’s office “solely to manufacture a prosecution against me”.
The order begins: “Global law firms have for years played an outsized role in undermining the judicial process and in the destruction of bedrock American principles.
“Many have engaged in activities that make our communities less safe, increase burdens on local businesses, limit constitutional freedoms, and degrade the quality of American elections.
“Additionally, they have sometimes done so on behalf of clients, pro bono, or ostensibly ‘for the public good’ — potentially depriving those who cannot otherwise afford the benefit of top legal talent the access to justice deserved by all.
“My administration will no longer support taxpayer funds sponsoring such harm.”
The first firm to come under attack was Covington & Burling, for its role supporting special counsel Jack Smith.
Yesterday, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) wrote 11-page letters to 20 major law firms in the US requesting information about DEI.
The EEOC said: “Based on publicly available information, the letters note concerns 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”.
It added: “There is no ‘diversity’ exception to these prohibitions.”
The letters ask for significant details – including in some circumstances names and personal information – about a range of DEI-related schemes, as well as hiring and compensation practices, other “policies and processes incentivizing decisions motivated by protected characteristics”, and partnership decisions.
Firms are also asked to “fully identify” all clients that have diversity requirements or preferences, “or any demographic-related requirements” for the employees staffed on their matters.
EEOC acting chair Andrea Lucas said: “The EEOC is prepared to root out discrimination anywhere it may rear its head, including in our nation’s elite law firms. No one is above the law – and certainly not the private bar.”
The other law firms receiving the letters are: Debevoise & Plimpton, Cooley, Goodwin Procter, Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, McDermott Will & Emery, Milbank, Morgan Lewis & Bockius, Morrison & Foerster, Perkins Coie, Reed Smith, Ropes & Gray, Sidley Austin, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, Skadden, White & Case, and WilmerHale.
While there appears some hesitation among many large law firms to publicly condemn what is happening – for fear they become a target – thousands of associates from a host of leading law firms have come together to sign an open letter condemning the government’s actions.
The letter, organised by Rachel Cohen, an associate at Skadden, said: “The Trump administration’s message is loud, clear, and twofold.
“First, firms that represent those who oppose the administration’s agenda will be punished. This equates lawyers’ views with their clients’ views, and undermines our profession’s commitment to ensure representation for all…
“Second, the administration will target more large law firms until the industry complies… These executive actions coerce elimination of inclusive policies while leaving a pathway for the administration to intimidate firms out of taking specific clients.
“They create a culture of fear and make our private-sector employers an extension of the Executive, subject to penalties unless the president approves of their clients and arguments…
“Our politics and feelings about the industry and its path forward are varied. But we are united in our condemnation of the administration’s intimidation tactics, viewpoint discrimination, and attempts to weaponize the Executive against the rule of law.
“It is not lost on us that it targets professions and groups whose existence and independence is vital to any semblance of American democracy.”
Meanwhile, the interim US attorney for the District of Columbia, Ed Martin, wrote to the dean of Georgetown University law school, saying: “It has come to my attention reliably that Georgetown Law School continues to teach and promote DEI. This is unacceptable.”
He said his office would not consider for any role – whether a summer programme or job – “any student or affiliated with a law school or university that continues to teach and utilize DEI”.
In an uncompromising reply, William Treanor, the law school’s dean, pointed out that the First Amendment “guarantees that the government cannot direct what Georgetown and its faculty teach and how to teach it”.
He described as “clear” the “constitutional violation” behind the threat not to hire Georgetown students, “as is the attack on the university’s mission as a Jesuit and Catholic institution”.
“Georgetown-educated attorneys have, for decades, served this country capably and selflessly in offices such as yours, and we have confidence that tradition will continue.”
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