{"id":110821,"date":"2025-03-18T17:40:12","date_gmt":"2025-03-19T01:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/03\/18\/law-firm-removing-diversity-language-but-breaks-trend-by-being-upfront\/"},"modified":"2025-03-18T17:40:12","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T01:40:12","slug":"law-firm-removing-diversity-language-but-breaks-trend-by-being-upfront","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/03\/18\/law-firm-removing-diversity-language-but-breaks-trend-by-being-upfront\/","title":{"rendered":"Law Firm Removing Diversity Language But Breaks Trend By Being Upfront"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With the momentum of a grand freight train of cowardice, more and more law firms scramble to scrub their public profile of any indication that they\u2019ve ever cared about diversity. Whether it\u2019s nixing references to diversity<\/a>, purging email signatures of pronouns<\/a>, or deleting links to diversity handbooks and interviews with their own DEI director<\/a>, a number of law firms have taken steps to hide from the Trump administration\u2019s interest in weaponizing the government to punish diversity initiatives. <\/p>\n

Yet, will this subterfuge even end up helping law firms avoid government retaliation? NOPE! In yesterday\u2019s attack on 20 Biglaw firms<\/a>, Cooley\u2019s letter included this gem:<\/p>\n

\n

However, as of March 14, 2025, Cooley\u2019s DEI Action Plan landing page is no longer available to the public. Cooley\u2019s sudden, overnight removal of its \u201cboard approved DEI plan\u201d from its public facing landing page gives me pause.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The moral of the story is that weakness never pays. But that\u2019s not stopping firms from trying. <\/p>\n

Bryan Cave is the latest to take steps to downplay diversity efforts, stripping inclusion and diversity language from the website and stuffing its 2024 annual diversity report in the cold storage vault next to Coyote v. Acme<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

What makes this move different is that firm leadership was actually upfront about it. According to tipsters, the firm laid out the decision in a firmwide meeting. After watching other firms try to hide the ball from associates (and potentially even partners) with sneaky, behind-the-scenes erasures, it\u2019s a welcome change to see a firm exhibit enough respect for its team to be honest about its decision.<\/p>\n

The meeting included assurances that despite the adjustment in outward appearances, the firm\u2019s policies of inclusion will not substantively change. As they realistically could not because, despite the vitriol right-wing media throws toward \u201cDEI,\u201d in reality, it\u2019s just a corporate HR umbrella term for pre-existing required legal commitments to women, minorities, LGBTQ folks, people with disabilities, and veterans.<\/p>\n

But honesty doesn\u2019t make the decision any less damaging. Inclusion is about being willing to accept everyone on the team \u2014 publicly. No amount of substantive initiatives can overcome the situation where the firm doesn\u2019t want to admit that it accepts traditionally marginalized or otherwise overlooked people. It\u2019s a matter of trust and \u201cdiversity is fine, just as long as no one can see it\u201d is a violation of that trust. It drives a stake through the firm culture\u2026 and probably for no real gain.<\/p>\n

Just ask Cooley.<\/p>\n

Earlier<\/strong>:\u00a0Another Firm Strips \u2018Diversity\u2019 From Website<\/a>
Biglaw Firm Scrubs Pronouns From Attorney Signatures Without Telling Anyone<\/a>
Biglaw Firm Quietly Begins Purging Diversity Language From Website<\/a>
Law Schools Respond To The Executive Threatening To Cut Federal Funding Over DEI<\/a>
Trump Signs Executive Order Calling Out Top 50 Biglaw Firm, With Intent To Wage War Against Other \u2018Leading Law Firms\u2019 Over Their DEI Policies<\/a>
Covington Must Wait Behind Putin To See Classified Documents Like Everyone Else<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"Headshot\"Joe Patrice<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. Feel free to\u00a0email<\/a> any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Law Firm Removing Diversity Language But Breaks Trend By Being Upfront<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With the momentum of a grand freight train of cowardice, more and more law firms scramble to scrub their public profile of any indication that they\u2019ve ever cared about diversity. Whether it\u2019s nixing references to diversity<\/a>, purging email signatures of pronouns<\/a>, or deleting links to diversity handbooks and interviews with their own DEI director<\/a>, a number of law firms have taken steps to hide from the Trump administration\u2019s interest in weaponizing the government to punish diversity initiatives. <\/p>\n

Yet, will this subterfuge even end up helping law firms avoid government retaliation? NOPE! In yesterday\u2019s attack on 20 Biglaw firms<\/a>, Cooley\u2019s letter included this gem:<\/p>\n

\n

However, as of March 14, 2025, Cooley\u2019s DEI Action Plan landing page is no longer available to the public. Cooley\u2019s sudden, overnight removal of its \u201cboard approved DEI plan\u201d from its public facing landing page gives me pause.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The moral of the story is that weakness never pays. But that\u2019s not stopping firms from trying. <\/p>\n

Bryan Cave is the latest to take steps to downplay diversity efforts, stripping inclusion and diversity language from the website and stuffing its 2024 annual diversity report in the cold storage vault next to Coyote v. Acme<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

What makes this move different is that firm leadership was actually upfront about it. According to tipsters, the firm laid out the decision in a firmwide meeting. After watching other firms try to hide the ball from associates (and potentially even partners) with sneaky, behind-the-scenes erasures, it\u2019s a welcome change to see a firm exhibit enough respect for its team to be honest about its decision.<\/p>\n

The meeting included assurances that despite the adjustment in outward appearances, the firm\u2019s policies of inclusion will not substantively change. As they realistically could not because, despite the vitriol right-wing media throws toward \u201cDEI,\u201d in reality, it\u2019s just a corporate HR umbrella term for pre-existing required legal commitments to women, minorities, LGBTQ folks, people with disabilities, and veterans.<\/p>\n

But honesty doesn\u2019t make the decision any less damaging. Inclusion is about being willing to accept everyone on the team \u2014 publicly. No amount of substantive initiatives can overcome the situation where the firm doesn\u2019t want to admit that it accepts traditionally marginalized or otherwise overlooked people. It\u2019s a matter of trust and \u201cdiversity is fine, just as long as no one can see it\u201d is a violation of that trust. It drives a stake through the firm culture\u2026 and probably for no real gain.<\/p>\n

Just ask Cooley.<\/p>\n

Earlier<\/strong>:\u00a0Another Firm Strips \u2018Diversity\u2019 From Website<\/a>
Biglaw Firm Scrubs Pronouns From Attorney Signatures Without Telling Anyone<\/a>
Biglaw Firm Quietly Begins Purging Diversity Language From Website<\/a>
Law Schools Respond To The Executive Threatening To Cut Federal Funding Over DEI<\/a>
Trump Signs Executive Order Calling Out Top 50 Biglaw Firm, With Intent To Wage War Against Other \u2018Leading Law Firms\u2019 Over Their DEI Policies<\/a>
Covington Must Wait Behind Putin To See Classified Documents Like Everyone Else<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"Headshot\"Joe Patrice<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. Feel free to\u00a0email<\/a> any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the momentum of a grand freight train of cowardice, more and more law firms scramble to scrub their public profile of any indication that they\u2019ve ever cared about diversity. Whether it\u2019s nixing references to diversity, purging email signatures of pronouns, or deleting links to diversity handbooks and interviews with their own DEI director, a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":110822,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Headshot-300x200-giOW6U.jpeg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}