How Law Firms Singled Out by EEOC for DEI Practices Can Respond

President Donald Trump has targeted major law firms in his second term in unprecedented ways. He hit three Big Law firms with executive orders that pose potentially existential threats to those firms. Then on March 21, the Trump administration issued a broad memo targeting any lawyer who files “frivolous, unreasonable, and even vexatious litigation against the United States.” On this podcast episode we’re talking about yet another way the administration is going after firms. Andrea Lucas, the acting chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, sent a letter to 20 major firms such as Kirkland & Ellis, Skadden, and Simpson Thacher requesting extensive documentation to investigate whether their Diversity Equity and Inclusion programs are discriminatory. The EEOC is asking for names, gender, race, law school and GPA information for all who have applied to be hired since 2019. Joining the podcast are two Bloomberg Law reporters who are following this story, Business & Practice reporter Tatyana Monnay and EEOC reporter Rebecca Klar. Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.