Law Firms Hiring DEI Positions During Federal Pushback (Correct)

Top law firms are moving forward with diversity, equity and inclusion programs, even as some rivals make changes in response to federal pressure.

Stinson is hiring a chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer, and Alston & Bird is looking for a diversity and inclusion manager, job advertisements the firms posted show. Baker McKenzie aims to bring on a senior manager for its DEI team, while Cadwalader—a firm that made a deal with Trump—is recruiting a diversity coordinator.

The ads show that firms are “not moving away from this commitment,” said Nikia Gray, executive director of the National Association of Law Placement, a non-profit that promotes diversity in the legal profession. “They want to create environments where all talent thrives.” The firms did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Legal operations have faced pressure to scale back their DEI efforts after President Donald Trump made scuttling the framework a top priority of his second term. The Supreme Court in 2023 struck down the use of race in deciding college admissions, prompting many firms to cut explicit mentions of diversity from their websites, programming and job titles.

Among legal operations that have made such changes, Sidley Austin switched the title of its “chief diversity equity officer” to “chief inclusion officer,” Greenberg Traurig took down references on its website to the firm’s affinity groups, and DLA Piper disbanded its minority organizations and affinity groups.

Reed Smith’s leader said Tuesday the firm will “retire our DEI program” and instead “will provide offerings going forward under the banner ‘culture & engagement.’” Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom removed affinity group event plans from its calendar for the remainder of the year, Bloomberg Law reported April 8.

Some of the firms have viewed changes as a legal necessity. After the Supreme Court decision, conservative activists sued Perkins Coie and Morrison Foerster over their diversity fellowships for law students. Others have made agreements with Trump over DEI, presumably to avoid being the targets of punitive executive orders.

Kirkland & Ellis, A&O Shearman, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, and Latham & Watkins “affirm their commitment to merit-based hiring, promotion, and retention,” according to an agreement Trump posted April 11. “Accordingly, the law firms will not engage in illegal DEI discrimination and preferences.”

Trump has also directed the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to investigate firms over their DEI practices.

The active recruitment of diversity-focused roles shows that many firms are continuing their diversity efforts, even if in some cases they are re-branding them. That is an encouraging signal to diversity professionals seeking jobs at firms, Gray said.

“People who are doing those roles want to go to places where they feel like those roles are valued and supported,” she said.

The DEI work is still necessary, said David Glasgow, who advises firms on diversity plans. “There’s still a tremendous amount of lawful DEI work that can still happen,” he said.