Have Biglaw Firms Pressed ‘Pause’ On Diversity Initiatives Thanks To Anti-DEI Lawsuits?

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Ed. note: Welcome to our daily feature, Quote of the Day.

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Firms are waiting to see if more lawsuits are filed. There seems to be a pause on many of the efforts firms were engaged in—even efforts that pose no risk. It might be because firm leaders are having to spend a disproportionate amount of time on this.

— Joelle Emerson, co-founder and CEO of DEI consultancy Paradigm, in comments given to the American Lawyer on the waiting game Biglaw firms seem to be playing when it comes to their diversity initiatives. The “pause” Emerson speaks of comes in the wake of lawsuits filed by conservative legal activist Edward Blum against Morrison & Foerster and Perkins Coie related to their diversity fellowship programs. MoFo has already changed the language in its application, as has Gibson Dunn, even though the latter firm hadn’t been targeted by Blum.

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Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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Biglaw, DEI, Diversity, Diversity Equity And Inclusion, Edward Blum, Quote of the Day