By Erin Mulvaney
The Trump administration sent letters to 20 major law firms saying it has concerns about their diversity programs and employment practices, in the administration's latest salvo against some of the country's biggest legal firms.
Andrea Lucas, the Trump-appointed acting chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, said the firms have diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, practices that could be illegal under the federal civil-rights laws that protect workers.
The letters seeking more information about the firms' DEI practices went to some of the largest law firms in the U.S., including Wall Street leaders Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, Simpson Thacher, and Skadden. Representatives for the firms weren't immediately available for comment.
The EEOC's inquiries follow White House executive orders that have targeted three major law firms -- Covington & Burling, Perkins Coie and Paul Weiss -- for their ties to political and legal opponents.
The EEOC is seeking several years of information about the firms' hiring practices and questioning programs they have supported to boost minorities and other underrepresented groups in the legal profession.
The commission also said it was also creating an email address where whistleblowers could send information about potentially unlawful DEI practices at law firms.
"The EEOC is prepared to root out discrimination anywhere it may rear its head, including in our nation's elite law firms," Lucas said. "No one is above the law -- and certainly not the private bar."
The law firms that received letters from the EEOC on Monday include:
1. A & O Shearman
2. Debevoise & Plimpton
3. Cooley
4. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
5. Goodwin Procter
6. Hogan Lovells
7. Kirkland & Ellis
8. Latham & Watkins
9. McDermott Will & Emery
10. Milbank
11. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
12. Morrison & Foerster
13. Perkins Coie
14. Reed Smith
15. Ropes & Gray
16. Sidley Austin
17. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
18. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
19. White & Case
20. WilmerHale
Write to Erin Mulvaney at erin.mulvaney@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 17, 2025 18:21 ET (22:21 GMT)
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