The
last
time
we
checked
in
on
DLA
Piper,
they’d
just
global-search-and-replaced
the
pronouns
out
of
every
US
attorney’s
personal
email
signature
blocks.
Non-admitted
associates
are
mostly
on
the
honor
system
to
sign
off
as
“Law
Clerk”
—
a
designation
with
actual
legal
ethics
implications
—
but
PRONOUNS
required
top-down
action.
The
purloined
pronouns
move
arrived
without
notice
and
clumsily
left
a
number
of
signatures
with
empty
parentheses…
a
visual
memorial
to
cowardice.
Tipsters
at
the
time
reported
a
palpable
blow
to
morale.
So
the
firm
decided
to
take
it
up
a
notch!
Welcome
to
the
DLA
Piper
CommunityTM
era!
That’s
the
name
of
the
new
initiative
the
firm
announced
as
they
“evolve
from
our
previous
diversity
and
inclusion
initiatives.”
According
to
an
email
circulated
by
Americas
Chair
Frank
Ryan,
this
evolution
means,
“[t]he
firm
will
discontinue
resource
groups
based
on
demographic
categories,
cease
participation
in
certain
external
surveys,
and
take
other
steps
to
remain
compliant
with
the
law.”
That’s
not
evolution,
that’s
extinction.
To
be
clear,
DLA
Piper
was
already
compliant
with
the
law.
None
of
this
stuff
is
against
any
law.
Attorneys
putting
pronouns
in
signature
blocks?
Legal.
Affinity
groups
and
support
networks?
Legal.
Participating
in
surveys?
Very
legal.
Even
taking
the
most
aggressive
read
of
the
Supreme
Court’s
anti-Affirmative
Action
turn,
there’s
nothing
even
arguably
illegal
about
any
of
this
stuff.
The
programs
described
in
this
email
rank
as
the
most
benign
and
unobtrusive
diversity
initiatives
imaginable.
They’re
one
step
removed
from
just
sending
a
bland
Black
History
Month
acknowledgement
email…
which,
hell,
might
also
be
on
the
chopping
block
as
one
of
undefined
the
“other
steps”
of
the
DLA
Piper
Community.
What
Ryan
meant
to
say
is
“compliant
with
the
whims
of
the
Trump
administration.”
There’s
nothing
illegal
about
quote-unquote
DEI.
To
the
contrary,
as
corporate-speak
meant
to
bundle
all
the
other
legal
obligations
an
employer
has
to
women,
minorities,
LGBTQ
folks,
people
with
disabilities,
and
veterans
under
one
umbrella,
it
actually
more
or
less
defines
what
legal
compliance
looks
like.
But
the
administration
has
threatened
legal
action
over
what
it
imagines
DEI
to
be,
lashing
out
with
EEOC
threats
against
a
number
of
Biglaw
firms
already.
DLA
Piper
isn’t
looking
to
remain
compliant
with
the
law,
they’re
looking
to
avoid
getting
hassled
and
having
to
be
the
ones
who
have
to
take
the
administration
to
court
over
some
baseless
retaliatory
action.
We
have
an
inside
look
look
at
the
DLA
Piper
leadership
meeting
as
they
discussed
the
option
of
following
other
firms
in
nuking
every
nod
to
diversity
as
a
strategy
to
avoid
Republican
lawfare
attacks:
Just
ask
Cooley,
who
got
roped
up
in
the
recent
spate
of
EEOC
threats,
and
received
this
specific
call
out
in
their
letter
from
the
government:
However,
as
of
March
14,
2025,
Cooley’s
DEI
Action
Plan
landing
page
is
no
longer
available
to
the
public.
Cooley’s
sudden,
overnight
removal
of
its
“board
approved
DEI
plan”
from
its
public
facing
landing
page
gives
me
pause.
No
bad
faith
deed
goes
unpunished.
Turning
tail
only
emboldens
these
people
because
once
a
firm
hands
them
an
inch,
they
know
they
can
extract
a
mile.
This
isn’t
about
a
“Black
Lawyer
Networking
Lunch,”
but
an
end
run
around
anti-discrimination
laws.
The
administration
knows
it
can’t
just
wipe
out
that
body
of
law,
but
by
putting
every
employer
in
fear,
they
hope
nature
will
take
its
course.
Firms
stop
reporting
their
diversity
numbers
—
the
surveys
DLA
talks
about
—
start
eliminating
support
groups
for
attorneys
facing
unique
challenges
—
the
affinity
groups
—
and
eventually
forcing
firms
to
think
twice
about
hiring
qualified
diverse
candidates
out
of
panic
that
they’ll
be
forced
to
prove
they
weren’t
“doing
DEI.”
Actually,
maybe
this
is
about
an
evolution.
But
in
the
same
way
the
wildebeest
evolved
into
nature’s
chew
toy
—
a
lumbering
animal
naturally
selected
to
get
rolled
by
lions
and
pecked
at
by
vultures
while
we
all
watch.
Earlier: Biglaw
Firm
Scrubs
Pronouns
From
Attorney
Signatures
Without
Telling
Anyone
Another
Firm
Strips
‘Diversity’
From
Website
Biglaw
Firm
Quietly
Begins
Purging
Diversity
Language
From
Website
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
him
on Twitter or
Bluesky
if
you’re
interested
in
law,
politics,
and
a
healthy
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college
sports
news.
Joe
also
serves
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Managing
Director
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Executive
Search.