FTC Warns 42 Law Firms Over DEI Hiring

The Trump administration is still going after DEI – or ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ (i.e. white people are the scourge of the earth) - this time, in Big Law. 

On Friday, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sent letters to 42 law firms warning them about “potentially unfair and anticompetitive employment practices” involving DEI, after they all participated in an anti-white program run by “Diversity Lab,” a “for-profit DEI-consultancy business.” 

All of these firms recently participated in the Mansfield Certification program, according to public information. Mansfield Certification is a creation of the company Diversity Lab, a for-profit DEI-consultancy business, which claims to “write the unwritten rules” establishing common race and gender-based employment practices across the legal industry. To receive the certification, law firms must agree to follow certain of Diversity Lab’s DEI-based employment standards. Public information also suggests that they would meet regularly with Diversity Lab and their competitor law firms to discuss common implementation of Diversity Lab’s criteria.

According to the FTC, the letter recipients “are among the largest law firms in the United States, collectively employing over 50,000 attorneys subject to Diversity Lab’s criteria.” 

In order to qualify for Mansfield Certification, law firms must agree to consider talent pools for promotions and leadership opportunities that comprise at least 30% ‘underrepresented’ racial and other groups. 

As a result of the process, many firms have reportedly met the 30% benchmark for external hiring and internal promotion.

“Millions of American citizens participate in our economy both as workers and as consumers. The antitrust laws protect them from anticompetitive employer agreements in labor markets just as much as they do from anticompetitive seller agreements in product markets,” reads the letter. 

Diversity Lab says the Mansfield program ensures “fair and equal” opportunity for all lawyers to advance to leadership roles, and focuses on “equal treatment, equal opportunity, and equal access.” The program is pitched as an “inclusive sourcing process” rather than a diverse slate policy. 

The premise, of course, is that merit-based hiring is racist - yet they claim it’s the exact opposite. 

As the Epoch Times notes further, the program does not dictate or require that underrepresented groups be selected for any leadership role or activity. Nor does adopting the initiative result in any individual being excluded from employment consideration on the basis of gender, race, or other demographic characteristics.

“Mansfield does not, explicitly or implicitly, ask employers or their decision-makers to make any selection or employment decision because of a demographic trait. As always, employment and advancement decisions remain outside of the scope of Mansfield and should be based solely on merit,” according to Diversity Lab.

The FTC letter cited an October 2024 statement from Diversity Lab, which claimed that more than 360 law firms earned Mansfield Certification in 2023-24.

The agency reminded law firms that unfair and anticompetitive employment practices also include collusion or unlawful coordination among entities regarding DEI metrics.

“Potentially anticompetitive collusion between law firms on DEI metrics can include quotas by which they agree to compose panels of job candidates based on race, sex, or other personal characteristics other than the candidate’s merit, or by which law firms agree to make final decisions about hiring and promotions based on those personal characteristics,” it said.

“Such agreements can distort competition for labor in legal professions, including along dimensions like hiring decisions, pay, and promotions.”

Ferguson warned that participation in the Mansfield program risks subjecting law firms to liability under civil rights laws. He asked the firms to review their relationship with Diversity Lab and other similar organizations.

Tackling DEI

Since assuming office, President Donald Trump has signed orders aimed at dismantling DEI policies.

On Jan. 20, he issued a presidential action titled “Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing” with the objective of terminating all discriminatory programs, including illegal DEI and diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) policies and practices in the federal government.

Trump signed another presidential action on Jan. 21—Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity.

DEI and DEIA policies “undermine our national unity, as they deny, discredit, and undermine the traditional American values of hard work, excellence, and individual achievement in favor of an unlawful, corrosive, and pernicious identity-based spoils system,” Trump wrote.

He ordered all agencies to “enforce our longstanding civil-rights laws and to combat illegal private-sector DEI preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities.”

In its statement, the FTC said the letters’ recipients are among the largest law firms in the country, collectively employing over 50,000 attorneys who are subject to Diversity Lab’s Mansfield criteria.

One of the law firms to whom the FTC letter was sent is Paul Weiss. In March last year, Trump issued a presidential action aimed at “addressing risks” from Paul Weiss, alleging that the law firm discriminates against its employees based on race and other categories banned by civil rights laws.

“Those who engage in blatant discrimination and other activities inconsistent with the interests of the United States should not have access to our Nation’s secrets nor be deemed responsible stewards of any Federal funds,” the president wrote.

Trump later agreed to drop the action after Paul Weiss pledged to eliminate DEI policies, including in hiring, and to provide $40 million in free legal services to support the administration’s initiatives.

Another law firm mentioned in the FTC letter, Latham & Watkins, also entered into a similar settlement with the Trump administration.

Law firm Perkins Coie, which sued the administration after being named in a presidential executive action, is included among the 42 law firms targeted in the FTC letter.

The Epoch Times reached out to Paul Weiss, Latham & Watkins, Perkins Coie, and Diversity Lab for comment, but did not receive a response by publication time.