Some big Philly law firms are pulling DEI language from their websites
Only a couple Philadelphia firms were singled out by the EEOC under Trump, but several more have been tweaking their messaging around DEI efforts.
Some national and global law firms based in Philadelphia are moving away from promoting their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts since President Donald Trump’s inauguration, moves evidenced by alterations to their websites’ references to DEI programs.
The URL that once led to a DEI page on Ballard Spahr’s website now leads to a page titled “A Culture of Thriving Together.”
Cozen O’Connor’s now goes to a page titled “Firm Culture,” and its diversity committee is now called the “culture and belonging committee.”
At Fox Rothschild, what once was the DEI webpage is now titled “Cultural Engagement.”
The Philadelphia Business Journal first reported on these changes. Representatives of Ballard Spahr, Cozen O’Connor, and Fox Rothschild did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday.
Philadelphia-born global law firm Morgan Lewis & Bockius also made changes to its website’s DEI page, while Reed Smith seems to have taken down its DEI information online. Both are among law firms the Trump administration has singled out for DEI efforts.
The EEOC last month sent letters to 20 law firms asking for information about their DEI-related employment practices. The letter alleged that “based on publicly available information,” some firms’ practices “may entail unlawful disparate treatment in terms, conditions, and privileges of employment.”
Morgan Lewis has replaced its DEI webpage with a page titled “Inclusion — Uplift. Include. Empower.” Firm leadership was not available for comment Friday.
The one-time URL for Reed Smith’s diversity webpage now leads to a “page not found” message. Global managing partner Casey Ryan said Reed Smith would “retire our DEI program” in a firmwide email, Bloomberg Law reported earlier this month, with plans to “provide offerings going forward under the banner ‘Culture & Engagement.’”
Reed Smith, through a spokesperson, declined to comment Friday.
Morgan Lewis, which was founded in Philadelphia in 1873, is the sole tenant at a newly built building near the Schuylkill, where it consolidated its local offices in 2023. Global firm Reed Smith, founded in Pittsburgh in 1877, has a Philadelphia presence dating to the 1970s, with more than 100 lawyers based in the city, according to the firm’s website.
Earlier this month, a group of law students sued the EEOC in federal court, looking to stop “the collection of sensitive personal information” by the commission about law firm employees and potential hires. The lawsuit alleges that the EEOC has “ignored Congress’ mandates and grossly overstepped their authority.”
Other large employers in the region have faced pressure from the Trump administration or conservative groups.
The FCC opened an investigation into Comcast in February to “root out invidious forms of DEI discrimination.”
American Airlines, among the city’s top 10 employers, was accused by a conservative nonprofit of using discriminatory practices to increase its “representation of Black professionals,” after which the company acknowledged that government contracting regulations “do not permit quotas, preferences, or set-asides.”
Trump has targeted other large law firms in the U.S. with executive orders that aim to restrict their access to federal buildings or cancel government contracts, based on their previous work representing people or interests he opposes.
Several have struck deals with Trump offering free legal services to avoid the actions in those executive orders. Those agreements have sparked controversy in the legal industry, motivating some lawyers to publicly resign from firms that made deals with the president.
Some large firms are challenging Trump’s executive orders against them. More than 500 law firms, including some based in Philadelphia, have signed on to motions supporting those challenges.