Joe Patrice , Above The Law; Biglaw Firm Quietly Begins Purging Diversity Language From Website
"This is the story we hoped wouldn’t happen, but let’s be honest — of course it did. It was always going to happen.
Between the administration publicly threatening criminal action against private sector companies over diversity initiatives and law firms rushing to curry favor with the White House, it was only a matter of time before a Biglaw firm tried to memory-hole prior diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
As we’ve monitored Biglaw websites over the couple weeks since Trump returned to power, we took heart every time we noticed that a major firm still hadn’t tried to subtly purge its public-facing site of any mention of diversity. Unfortunately, though perhaps inevitably, the legal community is no longer pitching a perfect game...
The entire “Diversity and Inclusion”-turned-“Opportunity and Inclusion” page has changed. The old website included visual representations backing up the firm’s commitment. For example:
The accomplishments of these attorneys are now deleted. The page still offers general statements about inclusion, but any specific claims about individual achievements are gone, hiding from public view any way to measure the firm’s success in this area. The page also linked to “a robust educational toolkit” developed by the firm and a block set off in all caps recognizing that “WE PLEDGE TO FOLLOW THE MANSFIELD RULE.”
And for what? If firms think scrubbing diversity efforts will shield them, they should ask Target how that worked out. The retail giant backtracked on its public DEI commitments — only to get sued by Trump’s fellow travelers anyway. These people won’t be satisfied until the entire workforce looks like a 1950s country club. It undermines firm culture for nothing."
