{"id":121963,"date":"2025-06-05T15:27:24","date_gmt":"2025-06-05T23:27:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/06\/05\/biglaw-firm-fighting-trump-in-court-but-still-making-tweaks-to-diversity-statements\/"},"modified":"2025-06-05T15:27:24","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T23:27:24","slug":"biglaw-firm-fighting-trump-in-court-but-still-making-tweaks-to-diversity-statements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/06\/05\/biglaw-firm-fighting-trump-in-court-but-still-making-tweaks-to-diversity-statements\/","title":{"rendered":"Biglaw Firm Fighting Trump In Court, But Still Making Tweaks To Diversity Statements"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Perkins Coie was one of the first firms Donald Trump targeted<\/a> when he started firing off retaliatory executive orders. It\u2019s hard to separate the order from Perkins boasting a long history representing the Democratic Party and the voting rights work of former Perkins partner Marc Elias\u2026 and the court agreed. After Perkins filed a scathing complaint<\/a>, the court tossed the administration\u2019s executive order as unconstitutional<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But just because a firm combats the worst excesses of the administration, doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s immune from a few strategic, potentially cheeky concessions. <\/p>\n

In addition to the executive order, the EEOC tagged Perkins<\/a> as part of its attempt to recast any and all diversity initiatives as reverse discrimination. It\u2019s hard to say if anything has substantively changed over at Perkins, but the website has gotten a bit of an overhaul with a \u201cDiversity, Inclusion, and Opportunity<\/a>\u201d landing page.<\/p>\n

Checking the Wayback Machine, Perkins had previously branded its outreach efforts as \u201cDiversity and Inclusion<\/a>\u201d so the addition of \u201cOpportunity\u201d isn\u2019t just a cheap replacement for \u201cEquity.\u201d But a few things have changed. The Diversity page cataloged by Wayback foregrounded the firm\u2019s Mansfield certification \u2014 missing from the latest version. Replaced with a vague acknowledgement that somebody<\/em> has called them a great place to work in the past.<\/p>\n

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

Since the White House has explicitly attacked the Mansfield Rule<\/a>, this seems like a cheeky effort to duck an administration that makes enforcement decisions on the basis of blind acceptance of web searches. Remember these are the dingbats who railed against scientists \u201cmaking transgender mice\u201d because they don\u2019t know what transgenic means<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While other firms are slashing affinity groups<\/a>, Perkins maintains over 20. Though now they stress that \u201cAll resource groups at Perkins Coie are open to everyone.\u201d <\/p>\n

But\u2026 are there really white dudes who are going to join up with the \u201cAfrican American\/Black Lawyers\u201d group? There may be a proto-Neil Gorsuch out there who will crash the \u201cNative American Lawyers,\u201d but by and large \u2014 especially at a firm with such a well-known reputation that associates have likely self-selected for liberal politics \u2014 opening affinity groups to everyone isn\u2019t going to change much. <\/p>\n

The firm\u2019s \u201cDiversity & Inclusion Fellowship Program\u201d still gets prominent billing and a whole section on \u201cOur Commitment To Racial Equality\u201d remains as well.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve leveled a lot of criticism at firms and law schools trying to \u201cobey in advance\u201d and hide diversity initiatives. Even when the firms try to downplay the changes as cosmetic, the very idea of hiding diversity sends a signal that they\u2019re ashamed of their people. <\/p>\n

And yet, the Perkins tweaks feel a lot more like a clever tactical move. They aren\u2019t shying away from diversity, they aren\u2019t hiding their affinity groups, they\u2019re still trumpeting their fellowship program\u2026 they\u2019ve just inserted enough language to give them a better argument down the road. \u201cWhat do you mean, we have discriminatory groups? The \u2018Women of Color\u2019 group is open to everyone!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Which, even under the most aggressive reading that the EEOC could take, should be sufficient.<\/p>\n

Earlier<\/strong>: Perkins Coie Drags Trump Administration Clear To Hell In New Lawsuit<\/a>
It\u2019s Official: Executive Order Targeting Perkins Coie Is Unconstitutional<\/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 Biglaw Firm Fighting Trump In Court, But Still Making Tweaks To Diversity Statements<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

Perkins Coie was one of the first firms Donald Trump targeted<\/a> when he started firing off retaliatory executive orders. It\u2019s hard to separate the order from Perkins boasting a long history representing the Democratic Party and the voting rights work of former Perkins partner Marc Elias\u2026 and the court agreed. After Perkins filed a scathing complaint<\/a>, the court tossed the administration\u2019s executive order as unconstitutional<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But just because a firm combats the worst excesses of the administration, doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s immune from a few strategic, potentially cheeky concessions. <\/p>\n

In addition to the executive order, the EEOC tagged Perkins<\/a> as part of its attempt to recast any and all diversity initiatives as reverse discrimination. It\u2019s hard to say if anything has substantively changed over at Perkins, but the website has gotten a bit of an overhaul with a \u201cDiversity, Inclusion, and Opportunity<\/a>\u201d landing page.<\/p>\n

Checking the Wayback Machine, Perkins had previously branded its outreach efforts as \u201cDiversity and Inclusion<\/a>\u201d so the addition of \u201cOpportunity\u201d isn\u2019t just a cheap replacement for \u201cEquity.\u201d But a few things have changed. The Diversity page cataloged by Wayback foregrounded the firm\u2019s Mansfield certification \u2014 missing from the latest version. Replaced with a vague acknowledgement that somebody<\/em> has called them a great place to work in the past.<\/p>\n

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

Since the White House has explicitly attacked the Mansfield Rule<\/a>, this seems like a cheeky effort to duck an administration that makes enforcement decisions on the basis of blind acceptance of web searches. Remember these are the dingbats who railed against scientists \u201cmaking transgender mice\u201d because they don\u2019t know what transgenic means<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While other firms are slashing affinity groups<\/a>, Perkins maintains over 20. Though now they stress that \u201cAll resource groups at Perkins Coie are open to everyone.\u201d <\/p>\n

But\u2026 are there really white dudes who are going to join up with the \u201cAfrican American\/Black Lawyers\u201d group? There may be a proto-Neil Gorsuch out there who will crash the \u201cNative American Lawyers,\u201d but by and large \u2014 especially at a firm with such a well-known reputation that associates have likely self-selected for liberal politics \u2014 opening affinity groups to everyone isn\u2019t going to change much. <\/p>\n

The firm\u2019s \u201cDiversity & Inclusion Fellowship Program\u201d still gets prominent billing and a whole section on \u201cOur Commitment To Racial Equality\u201d remains as well.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve leveled a lot of criticism at firms and law schools trying to \u201cobey in advance\u201d and hide diversity initiatives. Even when the firms try to downplay the changes as cosmetic, the very idea of hiding diversity sends a signal that they\u2019re ashamed of their people. <\/p>\n

And yet, the Perkins tweaks feel a lot more like a clever tactical move. They aren\u2019t shying away from diversity, they aren\u2019t hiding their affinity groups, they\u2019re still trumpeting their fellowship program\u2026 they\u2019ve just inserted enough language to give them a better argument down the road. \u201cWhat do you mean, we have discriminatory groups? The \u2018Women of Color\u2019 group is open to everyone!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Which, even under the most aggressive reading that the EEOC could take, should be sufficient.<\/p>\n

Earlier<\/strong>: Perkins Coie Drags Trump Administration Clear To Hell In New Lawsuit<\/a>
It\u2019s Official: Executive Order Targeting Perkins Coie Is Unconstitutional<\/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 Biglaw Firm Fighting Trump In Court, But Still Making Tweaks To Diversity Statements<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Perkins Coie was one of the first firms Donald Trump targeted when he started firing off retaliatory executive orders. It\u2019s hard to separate the order from Perkins boasting a long history representing the Democratic Party and the voting rights work of former Perkins partner Marc Elias\u2026 and the court agreed. After Perkins filed a scathing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":121964,"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-121963","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\/06\/Headshot-300x200-JmbjdI.jpeg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121963","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=121963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121963\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}