{"id":119648,"date":"2025-05-19T17:00:37","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T01:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/05\/19\/susman-godfrey-thumbs-nose-at-the-war-on-dei\/"},"modified":"2025-05-19T17:00:37","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T01:00:37","slug":"susman-godfrey-thumbs-nose-at-the-war-on-dei","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/05\/19\/susman-godfrey-thumbs-nose-at-the-war-on-dei\/","title":{"rendered":"Susman Godfrey Thumbs Nose At The War On DEI"},"content":{"rendered":"

MAGA\u2019s attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion<\/a> has hit Biglaw particularly hard. Firms\u2019 commitment to diversifying the profession were a featured part of Donald Trump\u2019s unconstitutional<\/a> Executive Orders<\/a> targeting disfavored firms. Many major law firms have ended DEI resources<\/a>, affinity groups<\/a>, billing codes<\/a>, scrubbed email signatures<\/a>. and more<\/a> to escape the wrath <\/a>of the Trump administration. The EEOC launched investigations<\/a> into 20 Biglaw firms over their DEI programs. It\u2019s rough out there. But one firm is doubling down on their belief in the diversity and the greater good.<\/p>\n

Susman Godfrey recently announced <\/a>the deserving winners of this year\u2019s Susman Godfrey Prize, given to first- and second-year law students of color who have demonstrated academic excellence and overall achievement. Given the smoke that DEI is getting right now, you might think the firm would be minimizing their efforts \u2014 if they even kept them alive at all. But Susman is taking a bold stance \u2014 increasing both the number of recipients from 20 to 25 and the value of the prize, from $3,500 to $4,000.<\/p>\n

In statements about the award, the firm\u2019s co-managing partners made statements highlighting the achievements of the recipients:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIn its fifth year, the Susman Godfrey Prize continues to champion law students of color who embody values of integrity, leadership, and academic excellence,\u201d said Susman Godfrey Co-Managing Partner Kalpana Srinivasan. \u201cThis year\u2019s recipients have demonstrated great potential for promising legal careers, and we hope this recognition serves as a helpful step forward in achieving their professional goals.\u201d
\u2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe firm is honored to continue to award and recognize law students for their hard work and dedication to the legal profession,\u201d adds Co-Managing Partner Vineet Bhatia.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But it\u2019s also a statement that the firm will not be bullied or back down from a fight, especially not when they believe in the cause and the value of what they\u2019re doing. No wonder Susman is taking Trump to court<\/a> over the problematic EO targeting the firm<\/a> \u2014 this is not a firm to be trifled with.<\/p>\n

The post Susman Godfrey Thumbs Nose At The War On DEI<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

MAGA\u2019s attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion<\/a> has hit Biglaw particularly hard. Firms\u2019 commitment to diversifying the profession were a featured part of Donald Trump\u2019s unconstitutional<\/a> Executive Orders<\/a> targeting disfavored firms. Many major law firms have ended DEI resources<\/a>, affinity groups<\/a>, billing codes<\/a>, scrubbed email signatures<\/a>. and more<\/a> to escape the wrath <\/a>of the Trump administration. The EEOC launched investigations<\/a> into 20 Biglaw firms over their DEI programs. It\u2019s rough out there. But one firm is doubling down on their belief in the diversity and the greater good.<\/p>\n

Susman Godfrey recently announced <\/a>the deserving winners of this year\u2019s Susman Godfrey Prize, given to first- and second-year law students of color who have demonstrated academic excellence and overall achievement. Given the smoke that DEI is getting right now, you might think the firm would be minimizing their efforts \u2014 if they even kept them alive at all. But Susman is taking a bold stance \u2014 increasing both the number of recipients from 20 to 25 and the value of the prize, from $3,500 to $4,000.<\/p>\n

In statements about the award, the firm\u2019s co-managing partners made statements highlighting the achievements of the recipients:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIn its fifth year, the Susman Godfrey Prize continues to champion law students of color who embody values of integrity, leadership, and academic excellence,\u201d said Susman Godfrey Co-Managing Partner Kalpana Srinivasan. \u201cThis year\u2019s recipients have demonstrated great potential for promising legal careers, and we hope this recognition serves as a helpful step forward in achieving their professional goals.\u201d
\u2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe firm is honored to continue to award and recognize law students for their hard work and dedication to the legal profession,\u201d adds Co-Managing Partner Vineet Bhatia.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But it\u2019s also a statement that the firm will not be bullied or back down from a fight, especially not when they believe in the cause and the value of what they\u2019re doing. No wonder Susman is taking Trump to court<\/a> over the problematic EO targeting the firm<\/a> \u2014 this is not a firm to be trifled with.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MAGA\u2019s attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion has hit Biglaw particularly hard. Firms\u2019 commitment to diversifying the profession were a featured part of Donald Trump\u2019s unconstitutional Executive Orders targeting disfavored firms. Many major law firms have ended DEI resources, affinity groups, billing codes, scrubbed email signatures. and more to escape the wrath of the Trump […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":119649,"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-119648","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\/05\/GettyImages-1285809879-scaled-e1625236286839-7BPiNW.jpeg?fit=1510%2C1043&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119648","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=119648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119648\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}